Gold Hearts and Glass Bones
by Ceata88
Summary: Two years ago María begged Joaquín to take her with him out of San Angel and away from her father, and he did. Now they've finally headed back home, but a lot can change in two years, especially when a trio is down to only two... or is it? Ghost AU
1. Ch 1: A Long Road to a Dead End

***BREATHES* Here it is, the new chapter fic ;w; If you're someone who's read my fics before welcome back! This is a lot lighter than my last chapter fic but... I guess still not that light HAH I'm sorry. I hope you guys still enjoy this u_u Thinking I'll be doing some side stories to go along with this but they'll be in a separate thing sooo Anyway off you go. **

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Joaquín took a long relaxed breath as he tugged on the reigns and made Plata slow down to a trot. The horse almost seemed to protest at this and he laughed.

"Don't worry girl we'll get there. It's just..." He turned his head a bit.

María was asleep behind him. Her head rested against his back and her arms hung loosely around his stomach. The warmth radiating from her skin was far greater than the sun, but he had become used to it.

It had been two years since she snuck into his house at night and begged him to take her with him across Mexico. He had tried to protest but in the end gave in. Instead of leaving with his usual fanfare the pair of them stole into the night leaving nothing but a few notes. They wrote home, of course, but it was hard to get any letters back as they darted from town to town. He helped her hone her fighting skills, taught her how to live out on the road and made the mistake of taking her drinking on more than one occasion.

He was certain he'd be getting an earful from everyone in San Angel but he wouldn't trade it for the world.

In fact, he was kind of sad it was coming to an end.

Up ahead he could see the giant tree that rested on the outskirts of town. It wouldn't be long now before they reached the bridge.

"María," He whispered and nudged her. "Come on wake up."

She groaned and sighed, ever the heavy sleeper. Her arms slid further around his waist and she tightened her grip. The sensation shot further down and he shook his head to get rid of it. It was something he had gotten much better at the past month.

"How far." She mumbled into his jacket.

"Five minutes, or less."

María sat up this time. Her hair, which she let down to fly around in the wind, was now a mess of curls that covered her face.

"Guess I should at least try to look presentable huh?" She blew some of it away.

"You really should put it up while we ride."

"Tell you what, you grow the long flowing locks and I'll show you how it feels to let it flow in the breeze." She leaned over and dug around in the saddle bags. One of her hands rested firmly on Joaquín's shoulder.

"Hm, maybe the long hair would match my mustache." He tugged on it, making sure it was still perfectly in place.

"Oh gods I was kidding." María pulled out her hairbrush. "You'd look scary with long hair."

"Aw, you don't know that. I could look at good as Manny."

Her only response was a slap on the back of his head. He laughed and focused back on riding again.

However after only a few moments he heard her growling in frustration. "Damn, did we go through a windstorm?"

Joaquín craned his neck as he turned to see her gripping her hair in one hand and trying to brush it with the other. The curls seemed even more wild than before.

"Need help?" He smiled.

"No."

"If I don't there's no way you'll be done by the time we get there."

She pouted at him but finally held out the brush.

Joaquín pulled on Plata's reigns. The horse snorted but halted on the desert sand.

He pulled his feet out of the stirrups and threw one leg over the horse's neck as he turned to the side. María did the same and twisted her head enough so that he could reach all the hair that had amassed into a blanket over her back.

"So," she decided to speak as he lightly ran the brush through her hair. "What's the battle plan?"

"María we're just going home."

"Exactly. My dad's going to throw a fit. And Manolo, what's he going to say?"

"He'll be thrilled to see us." Joaquín ran his fingers through some of the untangled locks before he moved on. "At least I hope he will be. We didn't write to him much."

"Well I didn't want to make him even more jealous." She sighed. "You know how he would get sometimes."

Joaquín just laughed. "Only because he knew how easily I could sweep you off your feet." He leaned closer to her.

"You know that's not how it was back then."

He sighed and pulled back. "Trust me, I know. I was kidding."

When she put her hand on his knee he considered pulling away but just focused on her hair.

As he got to the last few knots María pulled out the sash she used to tie her hair.

"How are we doing it this time?" He asked.

"Braid, thinking of putting some medals in my bangs too."

"I told you before they're not accessories."

"And yet I continue to wear them." She pushed back her hair to show the ones in her ears.

Joaquín rolled his eyes as he got to work braiding her hair.

It took a lot longer than he would have liked but when he was done she tossed it over her shoulder and nudged him.

"Well? Let's go then we can't keep them waiting."

"As the lady wishes." He grinned spun forward. He barely had time to snap the reigns before Plata took off toward the town, in a gallop this time. María squeaked and clung to his chest so tightly he almost lost what air was left in his lungs.

"Plata," He scolded, but the horse didn't slow down.

"Oh, it's fine." María laughed. "Honestly it's a relief she puts up with me riding on her half the time."

Joaquín couldn't argue with that. They had almost woken up the whole town in their pursuit to escape. Plata had been almost impossible to tame when he was little but Joaquín had refused to give up. He had the medal, after all, and no matter how many times that horse sent him flying he'd get right back up.

Now she was his life long friend, but that didn't mean she played nice with others. Often times he could persuade her with a treat or a few kind words but it wasn't a guarantee.

Plata's hooves clattered against the wooden bridge and he could feel his heart pick up with excitement. He couldn't wait to see everyone again, to tell them all of his tales. Sure he did that in any town he visited but here, these people had seen him grow.

He couldn't wait to tell Manolo everything.

Well, not everything. He had to swallow as he pushed that memory back.

The second Plata burst onto the streets people took notice. What started out as hushed whispers evolved into excited shouts. Many adults ran off to spread the word while the children tried to run and keep up with the horse. Joaquín gave them a grin and a wave which brought on more cheering from them.

Plata didn't stop galloping until they reached the plaza. Joaquín stared up at the statue of his father. It was still just as daunting as ever but it seemed smaller this time, if only a little.

He jumped off the saddle and extended a hand to María. She just smirked at him and stood up before she leapt over him. He turned to watch her land on the edge of the fountain. Her boots almost slipped on the damp stone but she managed to catch herself.

"And you call me a show off." He crossed his arms.

She just flipped her braid back over her shoulder.

The towns people started to flood the square now, but none were faster than the children.

"Big brother!" A few of the orphans shouted in unison.

Joaquín crouched down and opened his arms. "Hey kids. Man look how much you've- oof!"

One of the kids flung themselves onto his chest. Before he had time to recover another latched onto his shoulder and one climbed up his back.

"Oh no, they've got me." He made a mock shout as he fell over. The kids continued to swarm on top of him, giggling. "Help." He managed to extend a hand upward.

"Not a chance." María laughed.

"Por qué María." He tried to shout but the sound was becoming muffled by this point.

One of the kids hovering over his face grinned at him.

"Did you lose a tooth?" Joaquín raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." The little boy shouted. "I lost another one last year look." He pointed to the one on the bottom that was starting to grow in.

"And how did that happen?"

He gave Joaquín a blank look for a moment before he smiled again. "By fighting bandits!"

"Really? You have to tell me that story."

The child looked like he was more than ready to begin but just then the nuns started to pull the kids away.

"Come on dears," Sister Valentina insisted. "We have to let them get settled back in."

"No." One girl shouted and wrapped all of her limbs around his arm.

"Aw don't worry," He smiled at her. "I'll be visiting you guys before you know it."

"Promise?"

He nodded.

The girl finally let go and the rest of the kids climbed off. The nuns shooed them to the edge of the square as Joaquín sat up.

"Need a hand?" María smiled at him.

Before he could take it a gravely voice shouted across the square. "María!"

Joaquín scrambled to his feet and straightened up as he saw General Posada emerge from the crowed. María looked afraid for a moment but that faded as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"What did you think you were doing?" He stood in front of them now.

"Going to see Mexico."

"Just wandering the country with a boy, even Joaquín, are not the actions of a proper lady."

"I don't care." She turned her head away. "I care even less than I did before I left."

"I- I'm sorry sir." Joaquín cut in. "I took her with me. I should have-"

"Oh no, you're not taking the blame for this one." María pointed at him. "I was the one who pressured you to do it. Besides, does it matter? It's all done now. I'm home. Punish me if you like but it won't change what happened." She tossed her braid to her other shoulder.

Posada looked like he was about to explode. Joaquín wasn't sure he was ready for it. This man could potentially banish him from the town.

_ "If he does that then I'll go with you. I promised, remember?"_

María's words buzzed around in the back of his mind and his shoulders relaxed.

"We will be having a talk later young lady." Posada growled but then sighed. "But, in the meantime, we should celebrate you making it back safely."

"What?" Her and Joaquín said at the same time.

"Of course. I'll see you at my house this evening Joaquín, right?"

"I-"

"I'd love to hear about how you won most of those medals."

Joaquín opened his mouth and noticed the scowl on María's face. His gaze darted to her own medals and immediately understood her frustration.

"Certainly, but I wasn't the only one who-"

"Now come along María." The general shoved his daughter in the direction of their house. "We at least have to find out a new outfit."

Joaquín could practically hear her fuming as she clutched at the tattered, dusty skirt around her legs. He wondered if she'd ever admit to her dad that she had been wearing pants on more than one occasion.

María shot him a look that was a mixture of desperation and rage but she merely started walking faster than her father to get away from him.

"You two kept well when you were gone, yes?"

He turned to see two of the nuns still there. Many other towns people still hovered around him.

"Don't you worry ma'am. We're both fine."

Plata smacked him in the shoulder with her nose.

"Ah, I'd love to tell you all about our heroic endeavors." He managed to plaster on a grin. "But my horse is pretty worn out and I'd better get her home."

"Of course dear, I'm sure we'll see you this evening."

He gave the towns people a wave before he shouted his name and hopped back onto the saddle. Plata gave him a snort of disapproval but she galloped off anyways. The streets had barely changed at all since he had last visited, his house even less so. But he rode past it to the nearby stable.

As soon as the doors were open Plata trotted inside and stuck her nose in a water bucket. He stroked her neck as he got to work unloading their bags. He'd worry about taking them inside later, she deserved a good brushing.

However as he finally got down to undoing the straps on the saddle he heard a familiar sound.

"Bleh."

Joaquín spun around to see María's pet pig, Chuy, laying down on some hay.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

The pig just stared at him with lazy eyes.

María had gotten the animal after letting a bunch of the animals loose on the town. It was a miracle her dad let her keep that one with how angry he got. The fact Manolo kept rescuing it thought probably had something to do with it.

But Manolo, they had told him to keep an eye on the pig while they were gone. María would have loved to take him with her but it just wasn't possible.

"Didn't think you could get any bigger." He tried to make a joke as he lifted the saddle off his horse's back. "Manolo fed you a lot of table scraps I take it?"

The pig made a strange noise and roll over onto his side.

Joaquín frowned as he dusted some of the sand stuck in Plata's coat.

Where was Manolo?

* * *

It was taking everything in María's power not to explode.

She had been forced to take out all of her medals, had her hair redone into an, honestly messier, pony tail and fitted into a new dress. She was at least glad it was easy to move in but it felt uncomfortable.

It was so clean.

The clunky boots she had gotten used to were now replaced with heels which she at least knew how to walk in, but that didn't make them anymore comfortable.

She gave an aggravated sigh as she stared at the mirror. Her fingers trailed over the empty holes in her ears.

This was stupid. She wanted to show off her medals and achievements too. She wanted to show everyone in the dining hall what she had accomplished while away from home. Did they honestly think Joaquín defeated all those bandits by himself? Like hell.

And her father, he hadn't changed a bit. She was certain she was in for another hour long lecture about being a "proper lady". It just didn't make any sense to her. Why couldn't she have nice manners, look pretty, and still enjoy a life of adventure.

She was already wishing she and Joaquín could go riding back out into the desert.

It was a miracle her father hadn't tried to lecture him but then again he had somehow managed to become the favorite. She still wasn't sure if she was relieved or angry about it. A part of her was afraid her father would forbid her to see Joaquín ever again but...

Since when the hell did she obey his orders.

Besides, she made a promise and she was going to keep it.

"María." Her father called from the hall. "Almost everyone is here, hurry up."

"Coming papá." She stepped away from the mirror but snatched up at least one of her medals before she made her way to the door. She placed it over her chest, hoping at least someone down there would take notice of it.

They didn't.

It was astounding, with the amass of people crowded downstairs that no one bothered to ask her. All they would really talk about is how much she had grown, how pretty she looked, and how glad they were that she was safe. She had half a mind to punch a couple of men who were standing far too close but thought better of it.

At least the nuns had asked about her experiences on her travels. She gladly told them, but just as she started to get into a story about how she and Joaquín raided a bandit camp her father dragged her away to talk to someone else.

Those moments when she would tune out someone's repetitive compliments she'd see Joaquín, usually on the other side of the room. He was surrounded by young women and soldiers who seemed to be asking about each and every one of his medals. His chest was out, a smirk on his face and every now and then he'd fix his mustache as he told his tales.

But she couldn't be angry at him. She knew why he did that.

She just wanted to join him.

But nope, her dad was dragging her across the room again.

When dinner was finally ready she was more than relieved to sit down, especially when Joaquín sat next to her. For the first time in the entire evening she felt at ease. She even scooted her chair a bit closer to him and away from her father.

When the food was served she was about to dig right in until she saw everyone giving her a strange look.

Right, manners.

She straightened herself up and tried to be more delicate with her silverware.

"So how long will you be in town, Joaquín?" Her father finally spoke up.

Joaquín had to take a moment to swallow all the food in his mouth. She couldn't blame him for stuffing his face. It had been almost a month since they had any kind of fine dining.

"Um, well, probably only a few days."

María almost choked on her food but managed to pass it off as just a small cough. This was her first time hearing anything about this.

When she shot him a firm look he just shrugged.

"That's too bad." Posada took a sip of his wine. "If only there was something that could make you stay, like a special girl."

When he glanced her way María already felt her anger boiling under her skin, but she bit it back. For now.

"Ah, I don't know about that General." Joaquín still had his grin up but she could see his fingers tapping against the table. "There's still a lot to do out there."

"I don't doubt it, but this town could use it's hero."

Joaquín's fingers stopped. "But you have María."

Her heart glowed at that, but the moment didn't last. After a pause of silence all the men in the dining room burst into laughter.

"Good one Joaquín." A soldier next to him nudged him.

He pulled his grin back up but she could see his eyes were wide. His fingers tapped against the table again before they curled up. "Aha, um, I wasn't... that..."

"You want to find out if it was a joke." María spat.

Everyone fell quiet.

"María." Her father warned.

"What?" She spun around. "Two years out in that desert and you still don't think I'm capable at handling something like this?"

"That is not the point." He argued back. "A proper lady doesn't get into fights, much less wander through the desert getting into... who knows what."

"Excuse me?" She crossed her arms. "What are you implying?"

Joaquín's tapping against the table returned.

"Nothing, nothing at all." He took a sip of wine. "Just that it could be impossible to find a man who marry a lady who might have done something behind closed doors."

She could feel Joaquín completely freeze up next to her.

Her hands slammed into the table as she stood up. "Is that what you think I was up to that whole time?"

"Of course not mija! It's just-"

"Even if I was," She pointed at him. "It's none of your damn business. It's none of their business either." Her glare spun onto the snicker soldiers who straightened up under her gaze. "If anyone has a problem with it they can fight me."

"María!"

"I don't care papá. Honestly did you never wonder why I ran away in the first place? Maybe you should have sent me to Spain back then."

Her father glared at her like he was still considering the idea but she didn't give him the chance to comment.

"Now then if you'll excuse me," she straightened up. "I think I need some fresh air."

Joaquín shifted in his seat.

"No, no, please, stay seated. I'm sure I won't be long." She headed to the door but turned back. "All of you have a lovely evening in your... stew pot of stupidity."

María ignored the whispers of the towns people as she slammed the door behind her.

It was colder outside than she had expected. She folded her arms together as she stepped into the night. Her heels felt awful on the cobblestone streets but she got used to it soon enough.

One of her hands trailed up to the medal on her chest and she sighed. Not capable of fighting? Did all of them just assume this medal belong to Joaquín?

And did her dad really think that's what she had been up to those past two years? Honestly, she couldn't be called a proper lady but assuming that was going too far. Of course she hadn't done anything like that.

For the most part.

She bit her lip and tried to push the lapse in judgment out of her mind.

The sound of boots against stone alerted her and she spun around with her arms out.

It was Joaquín, equipped with his sombrero and his cape again.

"What are you doing?" She put her hands on her hips.

"The same thing as you, avoiding the awkward crowd."

She studied his face for a moment. He didn't break eye contact.

"Yeah, you're telling me." She growled. "Can you believe that's what those guys think I was doing the past two years? Does it really not cross guys' minds that women can do something else?"

"Probably not." Joaquín rolled his eyes and pulled his cape off. "Here."

"I'm fine."

"I can see your goose bumps, just take it."

María scowled at him again but snatched the cape and tossed it over her shoulders. "Well, now what do we do?"

"Go for a walk?" He shrugged. "We haven't been here for two years after all."

"Doesn't seem like the scenery has changed all that much."

"Ah, wait. Let's go to the bull ring."

"Huh? What for?"

"Well, I didn't see Manny or his family at that dinner."

That's right. None of the Sanchezes had been there, or in the plaza when they arrived. They hadn't see Manolo at all since they got home.

"Let's go." She jumped up and grabbed Joaquín's arm. "I hope he's not asleep."

"What, Manny? The guitarist who would be wandering the town drunk with me at three in the morning?"

"Maybe he finally kicked that bad habit."

"As I recall you were doing the same thing in a few towns." He smiled at her.

"A foolish moment."

"Oh it was more than once."

María shoved him and he laughed.

But after a moment his laughter faded along with his smile. "But you know, I found Chuy in my stable."

"What?" She wanted to slap herself for forgetting to find her pig as soon as she got home. If only her father hadn't dragged her off right away.

"Yeah, he was just sleeping in there. I don't know if that's where Manolo usually put him but..."

"Why didn't he just use the barn in the bull ring?"

There was a long awful silence between the two of them. She couldn't help the weird chill that swept over her and she pulled the cape tighter around her shoulders.

Joaquín's arm was around her in a second. "Hey don't worry about it, I'm sure it's fine. Who knows maybe your pig is just as rebellious as you and went wandering in there."

She pressed against his side. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Hey... María?"

"Hm?"

"I just..."

"That's right." She suddenly snapped and pulled away from him. "What's this about you leaving in a few days?"

"I-"

"Don't you dare lie to me. Were you planning on taking me with you or just sneaking off."

His eyes darted to the side and he folded his hands behind his back. "I figured you would... that you would..."

"That I'd what?" She stopped walking and turned toward him.

He didn't respond and swayed back and forth on his feet.

"Joaquín, talk to me."

"I figured you would want to stay here with Manolo."

"Oh, that." María sighed. "Well, yes, kind of. I figured you would too after two long years."

"That's not what I-"

"I'm not going to make you stay here but try sticking around for a bit yeah? And besides I have a promise to keep."

"María-"

"Joaquín." She crossed her arms and stared at him.

He sighed and his arms dropped. "All right, fine, I'll stay longer. Damn it how come you always win?"

"Because I'm always right." She smiled and nudged her way back under his arm before they continued on their route.

The rest of the walk there was filled with laughter as they told stories about Manolo. María had been sort-of dating him at the time and although Joaquín had heard the stories before she brought up all the embarrassing date moments. Joaquín discussed a few drunken tales as well as some events when they had gone exploring or sparing. María wished she could have joined them but she had been trapped instead instead taking lessons.

When they reached the bull ring she was more than excited to see Manolo again. She tore out of Joaquín's grip and bounded up to the door. It took her a moment but she did knock and hopped on her toes while she waited.

"Relax," Joaquín suddenly took the cape from her.

"You say relax, I can see you tapping your fingers again."

"What? Come on that doesn't mean-"

The door opened and they both snapped to attention.

Carlos Sanchez stood there, seeming worn out based on how he leaned against the door. But those tired eyes suddenly widened as his gaze darted between the two of them.

"Ah, good evening Señor." Joaquín took his sombrero off. "We were looking for Manolo."

The man didn't respond at first. He just kept glancing between them. Then his eyes suddenly narrowed and he straightened up.

"Manolo's dead."


	2. Ch 2: Where Do You Find Peace

**HAH okay here we are ;w; First off um... wow I'm glad you guys love this fic so much right off the bat *crie* Seriously thank you so much. ALSO I am writing some adventure tales from when Joaquín and María were traveling in Mexico. I'll start posting those here soon enough, probably upload them in between chapters. **

**Anyways read on, thanks again uwu. (ALSO if you guys don't already know, go to my tumblr blog (ceata88) and go to the tag BoL-Ghost-AU to see some rad fanart already like god dang (okay bye))**

* * *

Manolo's dead? Did she hear that correctly? Her throat was already going dry.

"S-sorry Señor." Joaquín stuttered. "Did you say-"

"Did no one in town tell you?" The bullfighter's glare darted between them.

"N-no." María breathed. "When... when did..."

"A little over a year ago." Carlos' gaze turned distant.

A year? Manolo had been dead that long? Her entire body started turning numb as she thought about all that time spent laughing and adventuring. Their best friend had been dead and they were none the wiser.

"And you two just got back? Judging by all the fanfare."

"S-Señor-"

"Save it, sympathies ran out last year."

"We had no idea."

"I imagine not, running around the desert for two years. I suppose it's a good thing you two returned safely."

María wasn't unaware of the cold edge of this tone, but she couldn't say anything. Her arms wrapped around her stomach in an attempt to stop her shaking.

"Now if you'll excuse me, it's late."

"W-wait! But what happened to him?"

Carlos' glare returned and he stepped back. "He's dead." He snapped the last word before slamming the door.

As that sound echoed in the back of her mind María's legs refused to hold her up. However, her knees never hit the ground. Joaquín's arm wrapped around her stomach and pulled her back.

"María?"

She couldn't say anything. Her vision was going hazy as she started to pretend this was all a nightmare. Manolo couldn't be dead. He couldn't just disappear from her life. What was she supposed to do without him? Her mind swirled with memories and was only brought back when Joaquín pulled her into a hug. Her cheek pressed against cold sharp medals and made the stinging in her eyes far more obvious.

When the first tear escaped she couldn't stop herself from sobbing. It wasn't quiet either, her wails only muffled by Joaquín's uniform. He didn't say anything, or do anything, he just held her and occasionally ran his hand through her hair.

Soon enough her throat started to hurt and she was forced to quiet down, but the tears didn't stop.

When her voice became nothing but a soft whimper Joaquín finally spoke up. "I should get you home."

Home? What did her "home" have for her apart from an angry father and grey walls?

But the only reply she could manage was a light shaking of her head.

"I know," he whispered. "But it's late and... I'll be there first thing in the morning."

She just shook her head again. The idea of trying to sleep by herself terrified her now more than ever. In fact she could barely recall what it was like to lay in such a large bed on her own.

"Come on," He stepped back and tried to pull her along but her legs still weren't working properly. His arm caught her again and her nails dug into his uniform.

"Sorry," Her voice cracked.

"Shush, it's all right." Joaquín lifted her tiny frame with ease. One arm rested behind her shoulders and the other under her knees. His grip was tight and when she started shaking again he just pulled her closer.

María's head rested against his shoulder. As uncomfortable as the uniform was it made her feel safer. Bit by bit her shaking stopped and her tears became silent.

But they continued, and rather than try to bury her face she just stared up at the sky. Stars were everywhere but there were so few of them now, swallowed by the street lights.

"The sky seems so dark." She muttered.

"Hm?" Joaquín glanced up.

"It just... it's so bright out in the desert. You could see everything. I... I wanted to show him someday. I thought he'd like to write a song about it."

She wished she could stop thinking about it, but that was senseless. Who knew how long it'd be before she could get control of her head. Perhaps it'd be easier if she could talk about it but Joaquín's expression was oddly firm. He didn't seem sad, but that artificial smile hadn't crossed his face even once. He just stared straight forward as he walked down the street.

But maybe he was right. Maybe she should focus on getting some sleep and think about it in the morning.

Her house came into view and she started to feel numb all over again. Would everyone still be there? What would they say? As they drew closer she couldn't hear the noisy chatter that a party usually carried. Although the lights were on it seemed rather quiet.

"Do you want me to take you upstairs?"

"And give my dad something else to nag me about this evening? No I'll be okay just... give me a minute."

Her fingers traced circles around the medals on his chest and she took long, slow breaths. If nothing else she needed to compose herself long enough to make it to her bedroom. She rested her head closer to his neck, hoping the sound of his breathing would help her relax.

Instead she found it was incredibly unsteady. His heart hammered away in his chest to a point she couldn't believe he was standing so still.

"You can put me down now." She shifted her legs. There was no telling if she could stand properly but she may as well try.

Joaquín lowered her back onto the stone street, keeping one arm around her shoulders as she found her footing on her terrible new shoes. It took her a moment to figure out her balance on them again but at least her legs were steady.

"Try and get some rest." He nudged her toward the door. "I'll be back first thing in the morning."

"I should say the same to you." María turned around and put a hand on his cheek. "You're not really okay either, are you."

His eyes searched hers but they never looked away. "Don't worry about me right now."

She frowned at him but didn't have the energy to argue. She could in the morning.

They could talk about this.

Her hand trailed down to his chest and rested on one of his bandoliers. Only now did she see how fiercely his medal was glowing underneath.

"Hang in there, okay?" He pressed his lips together and took her hand off his chest. Before she could reply he leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead.

"Joaquín-"

"Mija!"

She spun around and almost lost her balance on the uneven stone. Her father stood there in the doorway, eyes wide.

"Papá," She wasn't sure what to say to him. Was he angry? Confused?

"It's late mija, you should be inside."

"I was just bringing her home general." Joaquín pushed one arm behind his back while the other tipped his sombrero. "It's um, been a long day."

Is that how he put it?

She glanced back at him to finally see that false smile on his face.

"It certainly has," Her father gestured to the door. "Do you plan to go home?"

Joaquín nudged María forward. "Ah, yeah, I don't want to bother you with that sort of thing. I'll be back in the morning."

She spun around and tried to say something but her throat was going dry again. Where did this sudden panic come from?

"Good night, Joaquín." Her father took her hand and pulled her inside.

_Don't go._ Her mind was suddenly screaming. The farther she got from her friend the faster her heart beat.

"I'll see you later María." He offered her a more genuine smile, but his eyes seemed hollow.

Something about those words made her feel nauseous. _Don't go._ Her mind kept screaming. It didn't stop until her father finally shut the door.

"You said you wouldn't be long." He turn toward her. "With Joaquín gone too, people were starting to gossip."

María bit her lip. She may have been too tired to argue with Joaquín but she was never too tired to argue with her dad.

"You're the one who wants me to marry him." She muttered.

"In order to protect San Angel, yes." Posada sighed. "Honestly mija, don't you want to keep this place safe?"

"I can keep it safe." She snapped. "Or did you really just assume I was wearing all those medals for looking pretty."

"But Joaquín-"

"Is just as good as I am." She stomped her foot. "Besides, I ran off with him once. Why on earth would you think I wouldn't do it again?"

"Mija, your place is here." He smacked his hook on the floor.

"Then give me a reason to stay." She screamed and headed for the stairs. "Because it's my duty? Because it's my home? Nothing about this place feels like home, papá. Especially not now that-"

She froze on the steps. Her grip on the railing tightened to the point her fingers hurt.

"María?" Her father stood close to the stairs.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She lowered her voice.

"Pardon?"

"Why didn't you tell me that Manolo died?" She spun around.

The man froze, his mouth forming a perfect O as he tried to find the words.

"I don't care what you thought of him, did it not cross your mind that Joaquín and I would want to know that?"

"It was a year ago, mija." He took a step back and fiddled with his hook. "It honestly skipped my mind."

"Because you didn't care." She muttered. "Apparently no one in this town did."

"María-"

"What happened?" She wasn't about to let him come up with excuses now. She didn't give a damn what they were.

"I don't know the details." He glanced at the floor. "He was doing training and there was... an accident. The bull's horn went through his stomach." He pointed to his left side.

María knew the image she pictured probably didn't even come close but it made her legs weak again.

How unfair was that? How cruel that he'd die doing something he never wanted in the first place. Her anger started to boil up again but she had no idea where to direct it. At her father for a number of reasons? At Carlos for forcing that life on his son?

Or at herself for leaving him here by himself.

"I'm sorry." Her father said. "But it's... well you know... with that occupation..."

María flinched and gritted her teeth.

"You shouldn't dwell on it mija it's-"

"Not dwell on it?" She screamed and almost jumped over the railing. "I loved him papá, or did you decide to forget about that too? Maybe he wasn't famous or a soldier but he was a good person and you... You and everyone else in this town practically want to spit on his grave? You... you're disgusting, horrible! You're the whole reason I left this damned city."

María gripped the railing again and forced herself up the stairs. Her father was shouting after her but she ignored him. It was too damn much right now.

"Good night," She finally screamed before slamming her bedroom door shut.

She leaned against it for a moment and listened to see if her father would try and come knocking. When he never did she pushed away from it and stumbled to her bed. Her heels almost gave out from under her and she growled in frustration. As soon as she sat down she tore them off and tossed them across the room. One smacked against the wall and the other hit one of the drawers on her dresser.

María glanced at the mirror. Her hair was now even messier in it's pony tail and she hated this dress. Her nails scratched against her scalp as she tore out the tie in her hair. She could hear the seams on the dress snap as she frantically tried to pull it off. Where was her sword? She'd cut it off if she had to.

Then she paused in her efforts when she remembered that apart from the dress she arrived in, all her other clothes were still with Joaquín.

She flattened the material back down, glaring at it all the while. Soon enough she'd have them back and she could burn this one.

María played with her free hair for a moment and glanced back at the dresser. One of the drawers had slid open a bit from the impact. She shuffled over to it and peered inside.

All of her photos were still there. Her fingers curled around the edge of the drawer as she debated whether or not to look at them.

Next thing she knew they were in her hands as she collapsed onto her bed.

The first picture was actually a portrait of her mother that was sent to her a few years ago. She managed to smile at it now remembering the times they had met up while her and Joaquín travelled.

Her smile fell as she went to the second one. It had been when she was only eight years old. Her, Joaquín, and Manolo were all working hard to clean up the plaza after she had let all the pigs out. It was the only way she was getting out of having to go to Spain. Chuy stood behind them, trying to eat a leftover sombrero.

As the pictures went on she practically watched them grow up. A photo from María's birthday party, when Manolo got his first traje de luces–looking as uncomfortable as always– and of course that day Joaquín achieved his first rank. There were pictures of them together, apart, with family, but all of them had a smile on their face, even if it was a lopsided grin.

The last one was a photo of her and Manolo. She remembered when this photo had been taken. Joaquín had snuck a bunch of camera equipment to the bull ring to get this picture. María sat on the fence and Manolo leaned against it with his guitar in hand. Both of them were staring at each other, their eyes focused on nothing else.

_"I love you too much... to live without you loving me back."_

María was certain it was just a memory but his voice echoed so loudly in her head. She leapt off her bed and ran over to the balcony, tossing open the glass doors.

Nothing greeted her but the ghostly street light that muffled out the stars.

_"I love you too much... heaven's my witness and this is a fact."_

Even in the empty night air the voice didn't stop. Her hands lightly touched the cold railing as she stared down at the street.

_"I know I belong... when I sing this song... There's love above love and it's ours 'cause I love you too much."_

Tears stung her eyes again. The stone road became nothing but a swirling mass of grey as she leaned on the railing for support.

_"Heaven knows your name and I've been praying... to have you come here by my side... without you a part of me is missing..."_

She covered her mouth to muffle her sobs. What on earth could have been going through his mind that following year after she left. Did he feel betrayed? Alone? Did he still sing this song into the night air hoping she would hear it and return home?

"I'm sorry..." She spoke through her fingers. "I was being so selfish. I didn't think you'd..."

She was an idiot, in so many ways, and now it was too late to give any kind of apology. Manolo deserved so much in his life and it had been taken from him. In that last year she hadn't been there for him at all.

María plowed through her memories. She tried desperately to remember the last conversation they had. He had actually been singing to her below her balcony hadn't he? She stared at his face, his eyes looking at her with wide admiration. Such a beautiful tune, such powerful words, it was as dazzling as always. She had payed extra careful attention this time, knowing she may not see him again in a long time.

_"Get home guitarrista. I have to sleep."_

_"As you wish, mi amor."_

_She giggled and blew him a kiss. "I'll see you later."_

Her stomach dropped. It had been a lie. Her last words to him had been a lie.

A breeze blew the hair off her shoulders and made her shiver. She thought about curling up in bed but refused to believe it would be much warmer.

She felt so alone and the almost empty sky only made it worse. She didn't want to be alone.

So there was only one thing to do.

Without thinking on it for too long she climbed up on the railing and leapt over to the lamp post. Her hands slipped on the metal but managed to find a grip and she climbed down. Lifting her skirt she took off into the night, bare feet slapping against stone.

Oh well, it wasn't the first time.

* * *

Joaquín couldn't breathe. The second he took off his uniform jacket and tossed it onto his old dresser everything hit him at once. Manolo's death, Carlos' expression and tone, and María's heart-wrenching wails wouldn't stop bouncing around in his head. If not for the medal he knew he couldn't possibly hold it together, especially in front of María.

But he had to. As much as he missed his friend already, as hollow as he felt, he knew María must be hurting even more. She was in love with Manolo after all.

She had been strong and held him up so many times during their trip. It was about time he returned the favor. He could deal with only crying behind closed doors. He was used to that sort of thing.

In spite of the tightness in his chest and his panicked breathing he refused to pick that medal back up. Better that he find some way to vent this emotion while he could after all. Still, he was becoming dizzy and had to sit on the bed. He clutched the sides of his head and tried to force his lungs to slow down. But now the tears were getting in the way and he moved to cover his eyes.

It was too much.

Finally he gave up. His body curled over and he openly sobbed into his hands.

Manolo was dead and he had no idea why. All he knew is that it happened while he had been out frolicking in the desert with his friend's girlfriend. That thought along made him wish someone would knee him in the stomach. Then as his mind ran over the things he and María had done... it was disgusting. He was disgusting.

Joaquín wished desperately that Manolo could still be here, if only to kick his ass. It was the least he deserved. He could practically hear his voice now.

"I can't believe you two just ran off like that. You didn't do anything weird, right Joaquín?"

The daydream was cut off when he heard a pounding on his door. He snapped up and rapidly wiped the tears off his face as he headed out of his bedroom. Who on earth could be here at this hour?

He only had one guess.

When his hands weren't getting rid of the tears fast enough he lifted up his shirt to get rid of the rest. He may not have the medal now but he had to keep it together.

Joaquín opened the main doors and indeed, it was María. She had taken her hair down and it seemed to be almost in the same mess as it was when they arrived. The collar of her dress seemed torn and looking down further he noticed she didn't have any shoes on.

Then he met her eyes which were red and puffy, plenty of tears still on her face.

"Marí-" Her name never even left his mouth before she barreled into him. Her arms flew around him and her nails dug into his back. He could already feel fresh tears soaking into his shirt. "M-María what are you doing here?"

"M'sorry." She stuttered between sobs. "I didn't want to be alone."

He returned the embrace and pulled her even closer. He knew that feeling all to well. Still, no decent words of reassurance came to his mind. If he didn't think of something soon he was sure he'd start crying along with her.

A breeze blew in from the door and she shivered.

"Come on," He forced himself to let go so he could shut the door. "I'll try making some tea, at least."

When he turned around he found her hand on his cheek.

"Were you crying?" Her glossy eyes searched his.

Joaquín opened his mouth to make an excuse but thought better of it. "Yeah, a bit, but don't worry about it."

"Joaquín-"

"Worry about yourself first." He brushed some of her hair behind her ear. "I can handle it... a lot better than I used to."

She frowned at him and after a moment he realized his hand was still in her hair.

"Ah, um, anyways would you like some tea?" He pulled it away.

"That sounds nice, yes." She wrapped her arms around herself.

Joaquín wasted no time showing her to the kitchen. It was surprisingly small considering the size of the rest of the house, a small wooden table in the center of it. He pulled out a chair for her, light the stove, then headed to one of the living rooms. Moving around kept him distracted at least.

After retrieving a blanket he returned the kitchen and wrapped it around her. She offered him a small smile but her distant eyes remained focused on the table.

"Almost wish I hadn't given Alfredo the week off." He tried to joke as he rummaged through the tea leaves. "I've never figured out how he does this."

"A week?"

"Yeah, I mean he's been looking after this empty house on his own for two years, he deserves a break."

"Does that mean you'll be doing the cleaning?"

Joaquín just shrugged as he searched for the teapot. "Might as well learn."

"Bleh."

Both of them spun around to see Chuy standing in the doorway. The pig yawned but practically galloped over to María's chair.

"Chuy!" She kneeled on the floor and scratched his ears. "Goodness, I'm sorry I didn't come and find you sooner. What... what's he doing in here?" She look at Joaquín.

"He just wandered in when I got home, from the stables. I didn't exactly have the energy to kick him out. I think he was sleeping on one of the sofas."

"Pff, I bet you enjoyed that didn't you." She scratched between his eyes.

The pig snorted and buried his head in her lap.

"Ay, I missed you so much." She leaned over and hugged him.

Joaquín let them have a moment as he filled up the kettle with water and set it on the warm stove. He still wasn't sure what to do with the tea leaves, but remembered enough from when Alfredo made it that it shouldn't taste awful.

As the water started to boil María spoke up. "Papá told me what happened."

Joaquín turned and watched her draw circles on Chuy's head. "Huh?"

"To Manolo, or at least what he knows."

Joaquín almost dropped the teapot but managed to rest it on the counter. "And... what was it?"

"An accident, while training. The bull got him in the stomach."

He shuddered and tried not to picture that image. He had to keep himself composed.

Still, something about that fact seemed off, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The kettle's singing broke him out of his thoughts and he poured the hot water in to the teapot.

"Do you think it was quick?" María mumbled. "Like, do you think he was in pain?"

"I'm the worst person to ask that, honestly." He sighed as he watched the water change color.

"Do you wonder what he was thinking? Did he miss us?"

"Probably more than we missed him." Only when those words left his mouth did he realize how harsh they sounded.

María started to cry again.

"I'm sorry I-"

"Why didn't we take him with us?" Her voice was nothing but a whimper now. "We knew how much hated bullfighting we should have just taken him with us. Why was I so stupid? I didn't even ask."

"Hey, don't do that to yourself." He knelt down and wrapped an arm around her.

"Why not? I should have asked. I was only thinking about myself. We just left him with a note and barely even wrote to him. I didn't even care enough. I just assumed everything would be fine." She grabbed her hair and pulled at it. "I'm so stupid. I'm horrible I-"

Joaquín shoved her hands away and pulled her into his arms. "Don't do that to yourself." He spoke more firmly. "Neither of our hands are clean, but it's not like we could have predicted it either."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on María you... you weren't the only one being selfish. I never should have taken you with me to be honest. I never should have kept you away from home that long and I certainly shouldn't have..." He couldn't bring himself to say it. His mouth went dry.

"But I don't regret leaving." She said. "I don't regret that time spent with you but I... Joaquín, he died alone. I know his father loved him but outside of his family..."

Her voice gave way to tears again. Joaquín held her tighter and Chuy nuzzled closer.

"I hate this." She sobbed. "Why can't it just be a stupid nightmare?"

Joaquín didn't say anything. He gritted his teeth and tried to force back his own tears. In the end that was useless. He buried his face in her hair and let himself cry with her.

There was no telling how long they sat there, but eventually neither of them had the energy to cry anymore. When her shaking stopped he stroked her hair a few times before he stood up.

"Come on, can't let the tea get cold." His tug on her arm was gentle, but thankfully she stood as well.

He wiped away any left over tears before filling up the tea cups. He tried to distract himself by studying their strange patterns. Supposedly a lot of their dishes actually came from Germany. He grew up with them, but seeing them again after two years was a bit jarring.

The tea was thankfully still warm enough to let off steam. María clutched to the cup and held it close to her face. It almost looked like she'd fall asleep any second.

"I should get you back home after this." He said.

"No, can't I stay here?"

"What? María that's not- we're not out in the desert anymore."

"Please?" She looked up at him. "Besides you still have all my stuff."

"Oh right, damn." He sighed and stared at his reflection in the cup. "Fine, but I'm waking you up early enough to sneak back out. I really don't want to know what your dad will say if he catches you here."

"Who cares what he says." She growled. "He'll never be happy with anything I want to do, or who I am. He wants me to marry you and still lectures me about how to spend my time with you. I'll never be good enough for him." She muttered the last sentence.

Joaquín took a deep breath and sipped his tea. "Yeah, you're right, fuck him."

She gasped. "Joaquín!"

"What? That's what you were basically saying right? And that's what you basically said to me back then." Another sip. "We shouldn't have to waste our time on parents who want us to be something we're not."

"Here's to awful parents." She held out her tea cup, a small smile on her face.

He tapped his cup against hers before he took another sip.

The rest of the time spent in the kitchen was silent. Occasionally she would crouch down and pet Chuy again but when he'd sniff at her tea she was back up. At some point during it all she had nuzzled up against Joaquín. Without thinking he put the cup in his other hand and wrapped an arm around her.

She did start crying again, but Joaquín didn't respond apart from tightening his grip. The tears only lasted so long and her expression melted away to exhaustion.

"We really should sleep." He said, putting his empty cup on the counter.

"Like we always do?" She mumbled.

Joaquín didn't respond at first as he took her cup. He knew he should say no to that. There were so many reasons that habit needed to change.

But as he stared at her vacant eyes he just nodded.

Chuy followed them up the stairs and Joaquín could swear the pig was glaring at him every now and then. He offered María one of his mom's old night gowns to change into but she just said she'd sleep in her dress. It'd be gone by the morning anyways.

She tried to crawl under the covers the second she got to his room but he pulled her back up. Before she could protest and ask why Joaquín grabbed the brush off his night stand and ran it through the waves in her hair.

"Why do you have that in your room?" She almost laughed.

"Reminded me of my mom. It made me feel less alone at the time."

"And now?"

"And now... I hope it does the same for you."

She said nothing else. He could feel her nodding off under his touch and by the time he finished with a braid she collapsed onto the pillows. Not quite asleep, but very close. He pulled the covers over her before he climbed onto the other side of the bed. He tried to keep a good distance between them but eventually she rolled over in her sleep, tossing an arm over his waist.

He sighed but didn't make her move. That warmth always managed to keep the nightmares at bay.

_Sorry Manolo._ He thought as he drifted off._ I guess I'm still being a bit selfish._


	3. Ch 3: Seeing Things Here or There

**WOOP sorry this took so long guys. I got wrapped up in some original work I needed to finish and hit a minor bump in terms of writing anything BUT we're good now. Although I am going to try to keep up with some original work while doing this so not telling how fast I'll be writing this thing. Thanks for your patience! Anyway this chapter wound up being hella long sorry bout that, but things about to get goooood... Thanks again for enjoying this story so much guys!**

* * *

Dawn had always been his favorite time of day. Walking around when light first appeared in the sky made him feel refreshed. The colors of the sunrise were always beautiful, and if you got up early enough you could watch the stars slowly fade out. Early morning walks were always something routine for him after training forced him up at ungodly hours. Even out in the desert he'd wake himself early enough to watch the rest of the world follow after.

Today was no exception, despite the dryness in his eyes. He was certain he hadn't gotten enough sleep but he had to make sure María snuck home. She, unlike him, hated rising early. No matter how many times he tried to instill the habit in her it always failed.

Thankfully the smell of coffee got her downstairs. She had dragged the entire blanket with her though and rested her head on the kitchen table until he put some food down in front of her. After that he busied himself gathering her things. He offered to help her carry them home but she said no. It's not like carrying it was any kind of challenge for her.

On her way out he noticed her clutching to her sword like a life line. The weapon had been a present from him on her seventeenth birthday.

Not long after she left did he have his uniform back on and was out wandering around the town.

Hardly anyone else was awake yet, which suited him just fine. Even with the medal on he wasn't sure he was ready to interact with anyone. They would all just smile at him, drag him around, ask him to tell them more stories of his adventures. Such things that used to bring him joy only seemed like a dead weight now.

He was tired of telling stories about himself. Right now he wanted to hear everything about what happened to Manolo while they were gone.

While he thought about this he found himself standing outside the bull ring. His stomach plummeted at the sight of it, then even more when he recalled the date.

This wasn't right. They planned a huge surprise for him.

In spite of how numb he felt, his legs continued onward into the building. He was certain if he ran into Carlos, especially on a day like this, the man would be furious.

But he continued on into the actual arena.

His heart stopped at the sight in front of him.

The fences were in pieces. Splintered wood was scattered all over the dirt with hoof prints all around. Some of the planks actually sat in the stands, jutting out in spaces.

What the hell happened here?

Joaquín supposed there were a number of explanations but he didn't like any of them. Eventually he stepped farther into the ring and looked around at the remains. Had the bulls done this? They must have had some part with the amount of hoof prints.

The new question was, when?

Joaquín wandered over to the stables. His eyes tries to follow the marks in the dirt but for whatever reason they actually thinned out at the doorway. He glanced back to the gateway to make sure no one was coming before he opened the door.

He went tense when he saw the bulls. There were only a few in here, possibly more elsewhere. Two were asleep, only one stood awake. It didn't even look up as the soldier entered the barn. It just kept sipping away at it's water.

It was odd. When he saw the animals like this rather than stomping around an arena he understood Manolo a little more. Somehow, even though he was so close to them now, they seemed smaller than he expected.

When he stood in front of the gate the bull looked up at him.

"Um, hey there." He put his hands behind his back.

The bull snorted but actually backed away from him. It's eyes were wide.

_ "They're not that dangerous, Joaquín. I can't possibly fight these things."_

For a moment he believed those words.

Then anger suddenly started to burn in his chest. Manolo had been wrong. These things were dangerous. One had taken his life in the end.

"Was it you?" Joaquín mumbled to the animal. "Are you the one that killed him?"

The bull's ear just twitched in response. It never took it's eyes off him.

But no, that was foolish. What other fate would there have been for the creature that killed the son of a bull fighter?

Joaquín shivered and headed for the exit. The longer he stood there the more nauseous he became.

Manolo wanted to help these animals. Why is it that they were the ones that took his life? It was a fate too cruel for words.

The longer he stared at the ravaged arena the more his mind tried to toy with images from that day. Was anyone else in the ring when it happened? Did Carlos see the whole thing? He remembered the man's expression last night and guilt over came him yet again.

He forced himself to stop thinking about it, at least for a moment. Only then did he realize he had kept walking through the ring. He stood close to the center now, and spun around to survey the stands.

Even without people they seemed so daunting from this position. The longer he stared at them the taller they became. How did Manolo bare to look at them every day?

A sudden rush of anger hit him again, although he didn't know why. His boot scraped against the dirt as he kicked some of it in the air. As his gaze fell to the ground, however, he spotted something shining through it.

Joaquín bent down and wiped away the dust from the shining object. It was one of the decorations found on the traje de luces. Was it Manolo's? He picked it up and flipped it over in his hands. Nausea hit him again when he noticed a few specks of dried blood on the back.

His fingers closed around it. He could physically feel the medal trying to push his feelings back this time but it was losing. At least it kept his tears silent, in spite of how much he wanted to scream.

His friend should have turned nineteen today.

Eventually Joaquín forced himself to stand back up. He couldn't linger here. He glanced back at the decoration in his hand, wondering what to do with it.

He pinned it to his uniform, under his bandolier, and covered it.

The walk to the exit seemed far too quiet. He was used to this arena being filled with crowds, or at least his friend's excited shouts as he practiced. It wasn't built to be this quiet.

As he reached the hallway a gust of wind blew into his face. He actually stumbled back from the force of it and, in spite of the morning sun, he shivered.

Then he heard footsteps behind him. They were light, slow, stepping farther and farther away.

Joaquín spun around to see who could have possibly slipped into the arena.

His blood went cold.

It was impossible, it had to be impossible. Yet there stood his friend in the center of the arena, looking the same as he had before they left.

Except his eyes, which stared directly at him. They were vacant and empty, but focused.

He opened his mouth to speak but his throat went dry. He had to be seeing things, right? Manolo was dead.

Then he blinked and the vision of the bullfighter vanished.

Joaquín didn't know what to make of what he just saw. All he knew is that his heart hammered away in his chest. The medal felt warm through his uniform and, in spite of the courage it was granting him, he bolted.

He sprinted down the hall and didn't stop until he was on the other end of the street. The ring still seemed to loom over him, so he turned a corner to try and block his vision of it.

What had he just seen? He ran the image over and over again in his mind but finally just pushed it down. It was just shock, grief, he was seeing things because he was tired. There were so many reasons he might have seen something like that.

The sun almost lit up the entire sky by this point. He figured it might be a good time to head to María's house. He did promise to meet with her after all.

When he got there, however, Posada reported she still hadn't woken up. Joaquín half expected the man to make a comment but the general just looked ill the entire conversation.

"If she does wake up, tell her I'll be walking around town." He turned to leave but paused. "General, if you don't mind me asking-"

"I told María everything I know last night." Posada cut him off.

"Are you certain? I'd like to know more details. If... if you know anyone who might know more..."

Posada shook his head. "Outside of Carlos I doubt it. No one was in the arena when it happened."

No one? That was already odd in his mind. Carlos was usually determined to hang around when Manolo practiced.

"Perhaps those mariachi brothers will have something more for you. I'm sorry."

An apology? It was honestly the first time Joaquín had heard that.

María must have torn into him hard.

"Thank you general." Joaquín nodded and headed back into town.

By now people were finally up and walking around. Shops were opening and the smell of home cooking hovered around the streets. He felt hungry all over again but now wasn't the time for food.

People greeted him but he refused to linger long and speak with them. It was odd, that they still carried the same attitude they had last night. None of them were thinking about Manolo at all.

It was like they had forgotten him.

Anger boiled inside him again but he managed to keep it down with a false smile as he waved off another family. The crowd got thicker as he headed for the plaza. He could hear the faint sound of music and decided that was the best spot to find the brothers.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around, his fake smile at the ready.

But no one was there.

He blinked and look at all the people nearby. None of them seemed to be paying him any special attention so it couldn't have been them.

The soldier just shook his head and went on his way.

The brothers finished up their song before they ran over to greet him. Their cheerful disposition was hard to ignore and it started to rub off on him.

"Wish we could have been at the party last night, bro." Pancho said. "But Posada hates us."

"He should have had me write the guest list." Joaquín rolled his eyes. "Honestly it could have used a bit of music."

"Since when did you like band music so much." Pablo laughed.

"Traveling around Mexico teaches you a few things." He sighed as at least one pleasant memory came to mind. "But, I'm sorry, I didn't come here to catch up."

All three of them just stared at him.

"It's... about Manolo."

Their eyes darted to each other and Pepe fiddled with his trumpet.

"You don't have to talk if you don't want to." Joaquín rubbed the back of his neck. "But if can tell me anything it'd help."

"He was crushed when you left." Pancho said. "Like really crushed. For the first week we had to drag him away from sneaking into the bars."

Joaquín flinched at that. Manolo had never been much for drinking.

"He got better, sort of." Pepe said. "I mean he started playing with us again, and training. A few times he talked with us about it. He wasn't really angry just confused, you know?"

"Like, he was sad, but he knew why María wanted to leave and you gave her the chance to do that." Pablo added. "He missed you guys but he was doing okay."

Joaquín just nodded.

"But..." Pepe tapped at his trumpet again. "He got really strange that last month."

The soldier's chest tightened. "What do you mean?"

"He stopped playing, got really quiet too." Pancho muttered. "We kept asking if something happened but he wouldn't talk."

"Before we could figure it out that accident happened." Pepe sighed. "Señor Sanchez was really torn up about it. Still is I think."

Joaquín tried to run over in his mind what would have possibly driven his optimistic friend down the wrong road. He loved that guitar. Why on earth would he stop playing it?

"There's more," Pablo chimed in. "We heard that Señor Sanchez was going to get back into bullfighting but... you can't use the bullring anymore."

"What? Why not?"

All three brothers shivered.

"There's something weird about that place, bro." Pancho said. "Someone else might know better than us though."

"I... see..." Heat pricked the back of his neck as he recalled the sight of it, as well as what he saw before he left.

There were far too many strange things going on.

"Thank you guys," He said.

"No problem, bro. Bring María out here to dance sometime, ay?" Pepe nudged him a bit. "I mean, I'm sure you guys could use it."

"I'd like that, actually." He smiled. "Sometime this week for sure."

As Joaquín waved good-bye he wondered if that was an empty promise. He would love to do it, of course, but that was up to María.

The day went on and more and more people found him on the streets. Still, no one he figured would have any more details on his friend. He did ask, of course, but the most he got were a few small stories of something that happened in town. A man who owned one of the local bars had a story about him getting wasted and laying down on the floor for five hours. Joaquín wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at hearing something like that.

Manolo had always been noisy when drunk. His singing would go off key and he'd try to dance and make jokes. Obviously that hadn't been the case after Joaquín and María left.

He sat in the middle of town now, under his dad's statue. Normally he couldn't stand the shadow it cast but for now it provided some much needed shade. The heat was starting to get to him, just a little.

But as he sat there a chill ran over him again. He almost wondered if water had splashed onto him some how. He glanced down at it, staring at his reflection. Then his gaze trailed over to the statue that hovered above him.

Once again he could see Manolo staring at him.

He jerked around and looked up at the statue but saw nothing. His eyes darted back down to the water but that had returned to normal too.

Joaquín clutched his arms as he stood up and walked off. The chill seemed to follow him, lingering at the base of his neck. He made a note to catch up on sleep tonight, if he could. Seeing things like that wasn't healthy.

As he headed back onto the streets a familiar voice called out to him.

He turned to see María running toward him. Her hair was done up in braided pigtails this time, medals shining in the sunlight. She had one of her simpler dresses and her dirt covered boots. Her sword was even strapped onto her back.

A smile came across his lips as all of her decorations glittered. For some reason she looked more beautiful this way than she had all dressed up last night.

"Looks like someone finally woke up." Joaquín decided to pass the joke.

"Hush, we were up late."

"Not even my coffee could keep you up uh?"

"It did, actually, then I got more tired and fell asleep."

He laughed at that as the pair of them fell in stride. "What did your father say?"

"Nothing, actually." She pressed her lips together. "I also decided to sleep to put off confronting him but he didn't say anything when I got out of bed. Maybe I was a bit too harsh last night."

So he had been right, María had argued with him.

"Anyways, what have you been doing all morning? Just walking around?"

"Yes, that and... asking around." He put his hands behind his back.

María was quiet for a moment. "Did you find out anything?"

He nodded and began to fill her in on what he had heard. About Manolo's year without them, to the state of the bull ring. He decided not to mention the decoration under his bandolier, though he didn't know why.

"He stopped playing..." She murmured and clutched the strap that ran over her chest. "I wish I knew why. Was... was it our fault?"

"I don't know. The brothers said he was doing better. I don't know why he'd suddenly-" Joaquín stopped when he realized María wasn't following him. Instead she had stopped, staring down another street with wide eyes.

"María?"

Her gaze snapped back over to him. "Oh, sorry. Something just... caught my attention." She caught up with him. "I'm not saying they're wrong or anything Joaquín, but I can't figure out why else he'd do that."

"Bullfighting? Maybe Carlos said something."

María put her hands on her head. "I feel like there's way too much we don't know."

"I know." He almost put his arm around her but stopped himself. "Hopefully we can figure it all out."

She stared at the ground now and his mind desperately searched for a new subject.

Thankfully one came to them.

"Big brother!" The group of kids rushed toward him all at once. Joaquín opened his arms to catch one of them that jumped. Two others clung to his legs and one even curled up in his cape.

"Hey, hey," he struggled to keep his balance. "Take it easy guys."

"Are you going to come play with us?" A little girl stared up at María and hugged her doll.

"Yeah, come on big brother you promised." A boy on his leg tried to pull him.

"I... I don't know guys today might not be-"

"You promised."

Joaquín looked at María.

She just gave off a shrug and a small smile. "You did promise."

He honestly wasn't sure he was up for games at the moment. Along with what he heard today there was still a bizarre sensation buzzing around the back of his neck.

"How about some stories?" He offered as he put down the kid in his arms.

All of the children stared at him with wide eyes.

"Yeah, María and I have a lot of tales from our travels. I'm sure she'd love to tell you about the time we ran an entire gang of bandits out of a town."

"You both did?" The girl with the doll gasped.

"Of course." María tapped her sword. "In fact sometimes I'm an even better fighter than Joaquín."

"No way," a boy argued. "Big brother is the greatest hero in all of Mexico."

"We'll see what you think after hearing this story." She strode past them. "But let's tell it outside the church, okay?"

The kids rushed after her, except for one that still clung to Joaquín's leg. He smiled before stooping down and lifting him into the air. The kid almost screamed when Joaquín threw him over his head but settled down onto his shoulders and clung to his head.

"Let's race them." The child said as Joaquín began to walk.

"What?"

"Come on, gallop." He fidgeted and pointed forward.

Joaquín grinned before he charged down the street. He let off a mock neigh as he approached the kids and they squealed as they dove to the side. The kid on his shoulders burst into laughter and shouted for him to go faster.

He ducked his head and lengthened his stride. The houses flew past them until they burst out to the plaza in front of the church. Just then the nuns stepped into his path and he dug his heels into the street. His boots scrapped along the ground but thankfully brought him to a stop before he crashed into any of them.

"Good gracious what are you doing?" Sister Ana shot him a glare.

"Sorry sisters," Joaquín smiled. "We were-"

"Again." The child shouted and pulled at his hair.

"We were bringing the kids back here." The soldier lifted the kid off his shoulders and placed him on the ground.

The child frowned at him but didn't protest.

"Come to play with the little ones have you?" Sister Augustina, the youngest, smiled at him.

"We're gonna hear a story." The child shouted.

"Not if he just leaves me behind." María's voice rose up behind them.

Joaquín turned to see the children swarm the plaza. A few of them climbed onto the church steps to sit down and wait, eyes wide.

"A story hm?" Sister Antonella nodded. "I've been wanting to ask about some of your adventures dear."

María smiled and nudged a girl toward the steps. "Would have told you at dinner if my father hadn't dragged me off."

"Oh that Posada." Sister Valentina, the shortest, clenched her fists. "I can't believe he'd say those kinds of things about his own daughter either."

"I know right?" Augustina let her mouth hang open. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that kind of chatter at dinner."

"They can think what they like." María sighed.

"Actually sisters," Joaquín put his hands behind his back. "If it's all right with you, can we ask you a few questions after we play with the kids?"

"Of course." Ana smiled. "But we're sticking around for that story."

"Oh I can't wait." Augustina jumped and dashed over to the stairs. She sat down in such a hurry one of the kids had to move out of the way, giggling.

The other nuns were much slower in taking their seats. When they did, however, the rest of the children quickly settled down next to them. Dozens of eyes now watched Joaquín and María, waiting.

"Well, do you want to start?" Joaquín waved a hand.

"Nonsense, I'll make a dramatic entrance. Besides, you're the story teller."

He wanted to argue with that but the glint in her eyes told him otherwise.

Joaquín opened his mouth to start, but seeing all the eyes on him he paused. His nerves shot through the roof. Discussing medals was always one thing but he rarely went into that much detail, especially in front of a crowd.

But he was the king of false confidence, if nothing else.

"We were in the far south of Mexico, filled with trees and forests and some things you can't even imagine..."

When the first words came out he found the rest of them to be much easier. He described the small town they stayed in, and that only after a day a raid happened.

"There weren't many soldiers in this town, so María and I had to come up with a plan."

"And who did most of the planning?" She nudged.

"Keeping to the high ground was brilliant but I was the one who came up with that barrel trap."

A few of the kids tilted their heads.

"Well what better way to use the environment than to stay above the bandits." María suddenly drew her sword. "We launched projectiles from a dozen angles. The bandits tried to fire at us but it was dark and their aim was terrible."

"They shot at you?" Sister Ana gasped.

"Oh we were fine, terrible aim."

"While they kept the bandits distracted I set up a huge trap at the top of this hill. Every heavy barrel I could find I stacked up and when they approached, boom! I send them flying down the hill. I must have knocked out like, two dozen bandits."

Joaquín puffed out his chest only for María to jab him with the hilt of her sword.

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "It was only like, ten."

"It was way more than that."

"It's still not as many as I took out when I launched myself off the roof right into their group." María leapt through the air and brought her sword down.

"Did you really?" A girl gasped.

"Yup! I scared off that group all on my own."

"Is that true big brother?" One of the boys' mouth hung open.

"Does that mean... we can be heroes too?" The girl clutching her doll whispered.

"Of course you can." Joaquín blurted out.

"But she's a girl." The same boy said.

Sister Valentina promptly smacked him on the head. "And who told you that nonsense? Honestly the men in this town."

Joaquín just laughed and drew his own sword. "Perhaps a demonstration would be better."

María smiled and got into her stance. "Here you go girls, watch me kick this town hero's butt in a sword fight."

"No way big brother is going to lose." One of the kids shouted.

"Aw, they still have such confidence in you." She taunted.

Joaquín shook is head.

María was a skilled sword fighter, there was no doubt about that. Her skills only increased when he got her that sword, since it was better built for her. Joaquín would honestly have no trouble admitting she was better than him.

But by now he could read her movements too easily. Her first strike was predictable, so was the second, and while he had no clear opening to push her back she wasn't landing any hits.

The kids' shouts and cheers only spurred the pair on however. Suddenly María leapt up on a set of boxes for the higher ground.

"You're just too slow for me, aren't you?" She swung her sword down and he blocked the hit.

"Am I?" He shot a foot out and knocked the box out from under her.

María started to scream but jumped off the shaky platform and landed back on her feet.

"Nice try, you cheat."

"Nonsense, I wouldn't expect anything less from mi camarada."

The fight continued, Joaquín matching each of her swings. Then she took an odd step back. He took the opening with a swing of his sword only for her to leap over the weapon and bring her sword down onto it. Her weight forced his arm down and the steel clanged against the stone.

"I win." She snapped her sword around toward his face.

Joaquín let go of his sword and held up his hands.

"No way." A boy shouted.

"That was so cool Señorita." The girl with the doll dashed over. "Did you learn all of that by yourself?"

"Nonsense, I had an excellent teacher." She winked at Joaquín.

The heat crawled to his cheeks but was cut off when a pair of arms latched onto his leg.

"Teach us." The kid below him shouted.

"Hm, maybe later guys." Joaquín gently nudged his leg to get the kid to let go.

"Why later?" María put her sword away and crossed her arms. "We have some time."

"Because," Joaquín poked her on the nose. "You're it."

It took María a moment, but when her eyes narrowed Joaquín sprinted in the opposite direction. The children squealed and scattered.

"You better run." Her shout was ferocious, but followed by laughter.

Their game of tag lasted until the sun started to set. Every time a kid was it Joaquín and María made certain to slow down their run so the kids could keep up. What really ended the game was when María not only tagged Joaquín, she snatched the medal off of him.

"Hey kids," she shouted. "Did you know Joaquín is ticklish?"

He honestly couldn't believe how fast all their heads turned toward him. Dread shot through him as they screamed and charged. He tried to get away but eventually they were all tackling him to the ground. They tried ticking him all over but the hands on his stomach were what caused most of his laughter. It was impossible to make them stop, since he didn't want to hurt them by throwing them off.

"G-guys," he tried to speak between breaths. "S-stop, s-s-seriously."

However when one kid pinched a spot right above his waist he let out a loud squeal. The noise startled the kids and sent María into a fit of laughter.

"All right, all right," Sister Ana cut into the pause and towered over the kids. "That's enough of that, it's time to go inside."

"Aww," the kids all whined in unison.

"No no, in we go, come on. You can play again tomorrow."

The children were all frowning and pouting but climbed off the soldier and headed for the church. They all shouted their goodbyes but all Joaquín could manage was lifting and waving his arm.

María leaned over him with a smirk. "Bet I know which spot they pinched."

Heat spread from his chest to his face as he forced himself up. "Yeah, yeah, thanks for the help by the way."

"Oh come on, it was funny." Her arms hooked under his shoulders and helped him up. "Admit it."

He would admit nothing.

Sisters Valentina and Augustina did their best to get the kids under control and back in the church. Joaquín took a deep breath and smiled as he watched them. He missed those kids.

"Thank you dears," Sister Antonella said as she stepped over, hand on her rosary. "And thank you for that story, it sounds exciting."

"It was incredible." Ana seemed to pop out of nowhere. "To think just the two of you scared off all of those bandits."

"Ah, thank you." Joaquín rubbed the back of his neck.

"Did you not get a medal from that?"

"Well, that medal went to María."

"Sure did," she stepped over with Joaquín's sword in hand. She gave the weapon back to him before pointing to one of the larger medals in her hair. "I told you I took out the most bandits."

"In that town, maybe." Joaquín puffed out his chest.

Antonella's laughter cut off their spat. "I see, I see. Sounds like there will be even more stories to tell the kids."

"Of course." María smiled.

"Now isn't there something you wanted to ask us, dears?"

Joaquín wondered if this sensation was similar to jumping into a freezing lake. Chills shot through his nerves and his muscles went tense. The medal rested in María's hands now and it took everything he had to keep the pressure centered in his chest.

It took a moment for him to notice all three of them were staring at him. He knew he should say something but he couldn't do it.

"It's about Manolo." María spoke up.

"Oh," both of the nuns frowned.

"Do you... have any details about him you could share with us?"

Ana shook her head. "Not much more than you've heard I'm sure. He visited the kids still, sang for them, apart from that last month."

Joaquín frowned. "Does... does anyone in town know he stopped playing?"

"I don't know dear," Antonella sighed. "Sister Augustina tried to get him to open up to us but it didn't work."

"Honestly," Ana muttered. "He was behaving like his father."

"Pardon?"

A rush of wind cut off his answer. It howled around the four of them and almost took his cape clean off.

Suddenly María had a hold of his wrist. Her nails dug into his skin and he flinched from the pain.

"M-María?"

Her eyes were wide, fixed on the graveyard. He followed her gaze but saw nothing unusual.

Then something brushed against his shoulder. He turned again only to find empty space.

"Liar."

"Huh?" Joaquín looked back at the group.

They all stared back in confusion.

"Did... one of you say something?"

They just shook their heads.

Joaquín tapped his fingers against his palm only to notice how sweaty they were. He managed to tug his wrist from María's grip and rubbed his hands together.

María took deep breath. "Um... do you think you could show us where his grave is?"

Joaquín could feel his own hands shaking and he shoved them behind his back.

"Of course dear," Antonella clung to her rosary but headed into the graveyard.

Weaving their way through they found it located right next to his mothers. Both of them were decorated in fresh flowers at least, with a few unburned candles as well. The two nuns promptly said good night and left after they arrived.

By now the sky had gone dark. Only a few slivers of purple from the sunset sat on the horizon. Joaquín kept his gaze fixated on those and the incoming stars rather than the reality in front of him.

But when he heard something drop onto the stone he gaze moved down.

His throat went tight and tears stung the edge of his eyes when he saw what it was. A small wooden figure of a bull that he managed to whittle out in the desert. María had painted it, much like Manolo's guitar, and declared they would surprise him with it when they got home.

That along with an endless list of festivities for his birthday.

He took a deep breath to keep himself under control and glanced at María. Her expression was oddly stoic and her eyes didn't move from the grave.

Then, in the dark, he saw how much the medal glowed in her hands.

"Give it back," Joaquín held out a hand.

"Huh?"

"The medal, María, give it back."

She blinked and looked down at it. "I was wondering why I couldn't cry."

"Give it back."

"Why?" She turned. "So you can pretend to be the tough guy? Bury it all over again?"

Joaquín tapped his fingers against his palm. "María please, don't... do this to yourself."

She glared at him. "You do it all the time. Why is it any different if I do every now and then?"

"María-"

"Is this why you never put it down?" Her voice shook. "I never... I didn't realize it held you up this much."

Her eyes were wide now. She put a hand on her face and seemed even more shocked to find nothing there.

"Please put it down." He said.

The medal slipped out of her hands and hit the ground. Joaquín didn't try to pick it up. Instead he just opened his arms to catch her when she buried her face in his chest. Without the medal she finally started to cry, but it was silent this time.

"There was supposed to be a party." She said.

"I know."

"We were going to sing to him."

"I know."

"And teach him all those songs we learned. We were going to make him his favorite dessert, since mom taught me how. We were..."

"I know." His voice cracked as the tears escaped his eyes.

"It's not fair."

He tried to say the phrase once more but it just came out as a whimper. His arms tightened around her, hoping maybe the contact would press his emotions back.

Eventually María calmed down. He pretended that he did too. Swallowing back tears was easier when no one else was crying.

"Can we go to your house?" She traced lines around his medals.

"María-"

"Until it's time for bed?"

That was bullshit, and he knew it, but he couldn't argue. The idea of sitting in his house alone after a day like this terrified him. As he stared at the grave he could feel that chill return to the back of his neck.

"Yeah, all right."

They stood there a while longer. Neither of them spoke, they just continued to hold each other. Joaquín let one of his hands hold one of her pigtails. As it slide past his fingers he counted the medals as they appeared.

Would Manolo have been proud her too?

María shivered and stepped back. She grabbed the medal off the ground before holding it out. "Come on, we should get going."

Joaquín took the object and glanced at the grave. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

He didn't push the subject. He just pinned the medal back into it's place and lightly put a hand on her back as they headed out of the graveyard. It took her no time to scoot closer.

Joaquín glanced up at the sky, at the stars, longing for more of them. The millions of small glittering lights covering almost every inch of the sky always kept him at peace. Right now, however, it was too dark. As if it was swallowing the stars.

_ Happy birthday, hermano._ The words felt so hollow in his mind.

When he glanced back down they were headed back onto the streets. A gust of wind rushed past them and the chill on his neck got worse.

Suddenly it felt like ice wrapped around his arm. He twisted his head toward a dark alley only to be met with a pair of yellow eyes.

He opened his mouth to scream but nothing happened. He stumbled back, shoving María behind him and even reaching for his sword.

But there was nothing there.

He blinked and looked around. He even took a few steps back toward the alley but as his eyes adjusted to the light he still couldn't see anything.

"Joaquín?"

María's voice spun him around. With her head tilted to the side she stepped closer.

"Sorry," He straightened up and let go of his sword. "Just, thought I saw something."

"I guess the lack of sleep is effecting us both."

"Yeah, must be, no staying up late this time." He tried to laugh as he resumed walking.

"We should still try to relax." She caught up with him. "Something to get our mind off things."

Joaquín mulled over a few options but nothing he was motivated for.

"Heh, I know," she nudged him.

"How about a ghost story?"


	4. Ch 4: Visitor in the Night

**Bit of a short one this time but important all the same. Ey this one it's COMPLETELY miserable either what a bonus. Either way sorry for the wait again, hopefully my creative blocks will back off for a bit. **

* * *

Joaquín's fingers hovered over the keys before he picked a different tune. The sound helped him relax but only until the pattern annoyed him. One of these days he'd have time to sit down and learn a proper song.

María sat next to him, her cheek pressed against his bare shoulder. She seemed to be in a daze since they got back from the graveyard. He managed to make her laugh a few times while making dinner but it didn't last.

He wished he could do more but he was in no position to.

At first they tried to turn in early. She headed to the bathroom while he took off his uniform. A part of him debated if he needed to wear it every day he was in town. As confident as it made him feel it seemed a bit excessive.

Seconds after he folded it up however he heard her scream.

He rushed to the bathroom to see her stumble out, clutching her own arms. When he asked if she was okay she seemed to snap out of a trance before laughing and saying she tripped. He doubted that, but didn't press it.

Then she asked if he could play some music for a bit, and here they were.

María didn't even know he could play until they travelled. A few of the houses they stayed in allowed him to try again after all those years of training. He wasn't good at it, by any means, but it cleared his mind.

He knew it didn't compare to Manolo's guitar either, but María never asked him to stop. She just sat there, possibly falling asleep.

A familiar chill hovered around the back of his neck. The images from today hadn't left his mind. Manolo's blank expression and glowing eyes kept popping up and making his fingers slip on the keys.

María yawned before curling up on the bench.

"Time for bed?" He paused his playing but left his fingers resting on the keys.

"We should have gone earlier," she spoke against his skin. "Especially after a day like that."

"At least you got to sleep in."

"You could have too. Try it tomorrow, you might like it."

"I doubt it," he shook his head. "But I probably need to."

"Seeing things?"

"Ah, well, yeah," he tapped out a few notes.

"What kind of things?"

"You'll think I'm crazy."

"No crazier than me," her hand rested on his arm. "Probably."

Joaquín debated telling her, but in the end who else could he tell. Besides, if she had seen something too she should understand.

"When I was leaving the arena I thought... I saw Manolo."

María tilted her head up. "What?"

"It was only for a second." His fingers tapped against they keeps but not enough to play anything. "And I saw him a few more times during the day but... it probably is just the lack of sleep. That and missing him."

María's silence made him nervous. He tried to find another tune but couldn't bring himself to play a single note.

"You're not alone." She murmured.

"Huh?"

"I saw him too."

His fingers slipped and slammed onto the keys. "Y-you did?"

"Once on the street, later in the graveyard, and then a little while ago in your bathroom mirror."

The chill ran from his neck down his back. He turned his head to the side as if he expected to find someone standing behind him.

"Come on," he tried to shrug her off. "It sounds like we both need our rest."

María sighed before sliding down and laying across his arm. "Carry me."

He frowned at her before moving his arms to the side. "Why should I?"

"Cause I'm tired." She tried to hide her smile as she now looked up at him from his lap.

"So am I."

"I'll carry you tomorrow."

He wanted to argue that was impossible but he honestly wasn't sure anymore.

He slid his leg out from under her, smiling when her head hit the wooden bench. He ignored her glare while he stretched.

"Let's go then, your highness." Joaquín slid his arms under her and practically tossed her in the air.

"Damn right I am." Her arms wrapped around his neck. "The princess and her knight."

He almost dropped her when she said that but kept his composure. He had tried his hardest to forget that drunken story, and the events that followed after.

"Hey, your bedroom is that way." María pointed when he turned to the left.

"Exactly, my bedroom, not yours."

"Joaquín-"

"It's bad enough I'm letting you stay here María. If someone comes looking for you in the morning and finds us what are they going to say?"

"We're just sharing a bed."

"Do you really think they'll consider that? They had enough to gossip about without seeing anything."

"People like to talk, I don't care." Her eyes moved to the side as she pressed closer to him. "I can't stand sleeping alone anymore, okay?"

"You'll have to get used to it at some point." He muttered but turned back towards his room anyways.

"Says who?"

"Says me, I'm not staying in San Angel forever you know."

"And who says I'm staying?"

"María-"

"Manolo's dead."

The words cut into him just as sharp as when he first heard them.

"He's dead and there's no reason for me to stay here anymore. And you better not try to leave without me, you hear?" Her voice shook. "If you do I swear I'll sneak out and chase you across Mexico to kick your ass."

"No, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't leave you alone. I... I am not making that same mistake again."

María sighed and pressed her face against his neck. "We should just stop talking."

So they did, at least until they reached the bedroom and Joaquín tossed her onto the bed. She screamed before hitting the mattress.

"There you go your highness."

"Jerk," She tossed one of the pillows at him.

Joaquín let it bounce off his shoulder and laughed before picking it up and throwing it back.

María caught it and grinned. "Hah, you've left yourself unarmed."

"María no, we're supposed to-"

She didn't let him finish and leapt off the bed, smacking the pillow against his arm. She laughed and when she didn't stop he dove to the side to grab the other pillow. He swung it around, deflecting her next hit.

"Coward," he taunted between breaths. "Who attacks an unarmed man?"

"I did not come to fight fair." She swung the pillow again and he blocked it.

"Then neither shall I." He aimed for her head expecting her to block it. However the pillow slammed into the side of her head and sent her onto the bed.

"M-María? He stuttered and leaned over her. "Oh my god are you okay?"

Suddenly her arm shot out and pinched his side. Joaquín squealed and landed on the bed next to her. She jumped back up and pressed him down with the pillow across his chest.

"There's no end to your cheating." He muttered.

"But this is why I always win." She smiled and pinched him again.

He squeaked again and tried not to knee her in the back. "Cut that out."

In response María folded her arms on the pillow and plopped down. Joaquín tried to ignore how close her face was.

"Well guess it's time to sleep." She rested her head on his chin and made a mock snore.

Joaquín rolled his eyes. "You know I'd believe that you're asleep. Your actual snoring is that loud."

She paused and twisted her head to glare at him.

"Where did you get that snoring from anyways, your dad?"

María picked up the pillow and smacked him in the face.

He just kept laughing. "Now get off me so we can go to sleep."

"Make me."

Joaquín shrugged and easily shoved her small frame back. Her butt hit the floor but he didn't even snicker as he wrapped himself up in all the blankets.

"Hey you jerk," She hopped back onto the bed. "You're supposed to share."

"Make me," he mimicked her tone.

She tried, she really did. She tugged on the blankets endlessly but in the end could barely get them free. Eventually she collapsed, her arms draping over his side as she caught her breath.

"Fine, you win this round."

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Joaquín I want to sleep." She complained.

The soldier rolled over, forcing her back as he untangled the sheets. The second they were free María slipped under them and snatched one of the pillows. She put it above their heads before pressing up against Joaquín.

Without a thought he wrapped his arms around her and didn't let go.

Frigid air hung around him when he woke up. Even under the covers with María pressed against his chest he could feel the chills on his skin. He shivered and pulled the blanket up closer but it didn't do any good. Not even their nights out in the desert felt this cold. He needed to get another blanket.

Joaquín sighed before releasing his grip and rolling onto his back.

Manolo stared back at him.

Joaquín's heart stopped. The air caught in his throat and his mouth hung open in a silent scream as he stared back. His friend's eyes were empty, sunken into pale skin. His muscles went rigid. He couldn't move and couldn't breathe.

Why didn't it just vanish like all the other visions?

Then it tilted its head.

The scream finally tore out of Joaquín's throat as he scrambled away. María scrambled under the sheets next to him and he glanced at her when she shot up.

When he looked back the room was empty.

"What the hell?" María rubbed her eyes. "Joaquín if you want me to get up early there are-"

"I saw Manolo again."

Her hands dropped as her eyes widened and darted around the room. "Where?"

"Right there," Joaquín pointed. "He was just leaning over the bed _staring_ at me."

He wanted to pass it off as a nightmare, another simple hallucination, but he had the worst feeling that wasn't the case.

"Maybe we should-"

A creak from the door echoed through the whole room. The pair turned to see it opening and suddenly shutting again. Soon the wood swung back and forth and Joaquín clung to María.

She just tilted her head. "What the-"

"Damn it."

The voice sounded more like a whisper and made Joaquín shiver.

"Just want... see... work..." The words became disjointed.

Joaquín swore he saw mist materializing near the door. Then it moved back and forth with the sound of soft footsteps. The image distorted, flashed, and suddenly his friend stood in the room again with his back to them.

"Manolo?" María breathed.

The vision flashed before it was suddenly facing them. Manolo's eyes were wide, mouth open before it turned into a smile.

"C-can you see me?"

Joaquín wanted to answer but he felt dizzy. This couldn't be real. Whatever Manolo was, it couldn't be real. Just something his mind made up to deal with the fact his friend was gone.

"You can right? Thank goodness, I've been trying all day."

"That was you?" María pressed closer to Joaquín.

"Ah, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just trying to... to..." The image flashed and Manolo clutched his head. "Sorry, this is draining."

"B-but how?" Joaquín stuttered. "You're dead. You're..."

"A ghost?" He gave them a weak smile.

Joaquín's vision went hazy. María caught him before he fell back.

"It's um, it's hard to explain." Manolo's eyes darted around as his body distorted a few times. "But um, you shouldn't worry about it."

"Shouldn't worry about it?" María pulled away. "Manolo you-"

"It's okay." His voice sounded like a growl. "It doesn't matter. I just... you guys are here. You're safe. You're okay."

The image vanished for a moment before it reappeared right next to the bed. Joaquín managed to stop himself from screaming. He shouldn't be scared. If it was Manolo then he wouldn't hurt them.

Right?

The bullfighter reached toward them but paused. "It's um, good to see you again." His hand retreated.

"Manolo what happened?" María spoke up.

"It's like you heard, a bull got me in the ring."

"Wait," Joaquín frowned. "How did you-"

"I've been following you since you left the bull ring."

The soldier's fingers curled into the sheets but he said nothing.

"S-sorry, I know that's weird I just..." He pulled at his sleeves. "I... saw the gift you made me. Thank you."

"Manolo-"

"Oh, and I heard the story you told the kids. You should have started training María sooner. Who knew she had such a knack for it."

"Manolo..." María whispered her name and covered her mouth. The second her body shook Joaquín wrapped an arm around her.

"Ah no, don't cry." Manolo waved his hands. "It's okay. It's-"

"It's not okay." She snapped. "You're dead. You're dead and it's all our fault for leaving you here."

"No, it's not your fault."

"Then what happened?"

"I... It's not your fault." He said. "It's not. It's not. It was... there was... and..." His body flashed and distorted before vanishing.

The room went silent. María rubbed at her eyes to get rid of any tears as the pair looked around.

"Manolo?" Joaquín whispered.

The mist reformed at the foot of the bed before Manolo reappeared.

"S-sorry, it's tricky. Materializing wears me out."

"Ghosts get tired?"

"Ah, yeah, if I go too far I black out for a while even. It's strange. Moving things, speaking, showing myself, it takes energy."

"You don't have to push yourself for us." María said.

"I'm okay. I want to talk to you guys it's been so long... Then again you need to rest too. Perhaps we can wait until tomorrow." He floated around in a circle. "B-but then you have to tell me everything. I want to hear about your adventure."

"But why are you a ghost?" María waved a hand. "Why didn't you go to the Land of the Remembered?"

Manolo's form froze up before he started swinging his left leg back and forth.

"It's not important." He whispered.

"Yes it is." She argued. "Manolo you can't stay trapped here that-"

"It's not important." A chill swept through the room and he vanished.

The pair held their breath as they waited for their friend to reappear. Footsteps echoed around for a moment before the ghost showed up near the window.

María opened her mouth, probably to ask him again, but Joaquín cut her off.

"Look, if you are real can this wait until morning?" He rubbed his head. "I don't think I'm even awake enough to handle this information."

"You're right, you're right." Manolo smiled. "I shouldn't have woken you up." He vanished before reappearing by the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Joaquín wasn't sure if he should say anything. He still had trouble believing any of this was real. He figured he'd just wake up tomorrow morning realizing all of this was a dream.

"Good night." María said but her gaze pointed down.

Manolo vanished once more and the door inched open a bit before it all went quiet.

"Tell me I'm not crazy," Joaquín muttered and buried his face in his hands.

"You're not crazy."

"This is a nightmare."

"I... maybe but if he is real at least we can figure out what happened to him."

"I don't think he wants to talk about it."

"Maybe not right now..."

Joaquín flopped back onto the mattress. "María, I hate to say this, but even if he is Manolo I don't think he's the same as we remember him."

She didn't respond to that. Instead she stared at her fingers and tapped her thumbs together. She bit down on her lip more than once and didn't stop until Joaquín tugged her down.

"You need to sleep."

"After that?"

"Try."

She frowned at him but eventually rolled over.

Even though the room felt warmer now the chills wouldn't go away. He wanted to hold her in his arms again but didn't dare. If Manolo saw that what would he think? Then again, he already had.

He tried to calm himself down by studying the stray hairs poking out of her braid. With how long she kept it up, the curls in her hair would be out of control when she took it down. He smiled at the image of her trying to tame that mess in the mornings.

When she began to quietly snore it put him at ease. He always teased her for that but these days he could barely sleep without the noise.

Finally he shut his eyes and his body relaxed. He could figure all this out in the morning.

But it took him a while longer to fall asleep. He couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching him.


	5. Ch 5: To the Town and Down the Hatch

**The length of this makes me feel a little better about it taking a while. Good news this chapters mostly happy. Bad news, it's the best you're getting for a while oops.  
**

* * *

_Rain thundered all around her. Every drop made the dirt below her feet vibrate. She panicked and spun around but she could barely see the fence in the bullring, much less anything beyond it. The cold rain stung and burned. Was she crying? Somehow it felt like it. _

_ Then there was a different sound. Hooves? Some kind of animal sauntered around the ring. She thought she heard a snort. She kept spinning and spinning but couldn't see a thing._

_ Why couldn't she see it?_

"María!"

She jerked on the bed as the voice bounced around in her head. She looked across the sheets only to find that it was empty. The sun was barely up outside, typical.

"María." The voice came again and suddenly Manolo stood on the other side of the bed.

She shrieked and thrashed around in the sheets. Somehow she got more tangled than she noticed.

"Good you're awake." He smiled. "Joaquín told me to get you. Said breakfast is almost ready. I didn't know he could even cook." His voice fell into a whisper as he floated in circles.

María sat up and stared at the ghost. So last night wasn't just a dream. With the brighter light in the room she could see his body didn't quite seem to be there. If she squinted she could see the furniture behind him.

She figured she should get up and say something but instead her head fell back onto the pillow.

For a moment it was quiet. Then the sheets were torn off the bed, taking her with them.

"Wake up. I know you hate mornings but Joaquín said he'd leave without you."

She just groaned into the floor before she sat up. She opened her mouth to yell at Manolo but he didn't seem to be in the room. With the blanket clutched around her shoulder she got up and stumbled to the kitchen.

Joaquín had finished cooking by that point, setting up plates and getting the mugs for coffee. Manolo hovered in the kitchen, fixated on everything Joaquín was doing.

María tried to mumble out a "good morning" before plopping down in one of the chairs. Chuy, who had been napping in the corner, ran over to her and sat under her feet.

"Morning, keep an eye on that pig will you? He almost knocked over the table when he saw Manolo." Joaquín said before putting the coffee down in front of her.

"Can you really blame him?" She clung to the warm cup as the smell made it easier for her to open her eyes. "Did I miss anything?"

"Apart from Joaquín screaming when he saw me in the living room?" Manolo smiled.

"You would have too."

Manolo's laugh reminded her of the ringing of glass. He rolled over in the air and looked at them both upside down. "I truly don't mean to frighten you."

"It's hard not to." Joaquín said.

María took a sip of still-too-hot coffee to clear her head. She almost couldn't believe the lightheartedness of the situation. Then again with how Manolo was behaving last night asking personal questions was probably still risky.

Still...

"Manolo."

"Hm?" He rolled back over onto his stomach.

"Does anyone else know you're here?"

His stare was vacant and the image of him flashed. "Not exactly."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean, well, I've caused some strange things before." He flashed again. "But no one knows it's me."

"Not even your father?" She put the mug down.

"He can't know." His voice took on that eerie deep tone again. "He can't, okay? Or anyone else in town. You're not going to tell them are you?"

She stared at him before glancing at Joaquín who was putting the plates on the table. Only now did she see the dark circles under his eyes.

But he just shrugged before he sat down.

"No, not if you don't want us to." She said.

"Thank you," the ghost smiled and floated down closer to the table. "So, do you mind telling me a few stories before we head out?"

María, still struggling to wake up, couldn't even think of where to start. Thankfully Joaquín was always prepared and launched into the story of when she first learned to swordfight.

In fact the soldier had no problem of telling every single story of her messing up during training or battle. María tried glaring at him but the sound of Manolo's strange laughter was still infectious. Soon she was giggling against the lip of the mug when she realized how foolish she must have looked.

"She shot you in the foot?" Manolo said.

"Well more like a bullet fragment but those still sting." Joaquín cringed.

María knew he was lying about that much. She had hit him in the foot when the entire bullet bounced off a tree, but he had the medal for that.

"Give me a break, it was my first time shooting."

"Yet you're still terrible at it."

"Is she really? I think I'd like to see that." Manolo rolled over and kept laughing.

"Fine, you got it. After breakfast we set up some target practice." She slammed the mug onto the table. "And then we get to tell your embarrassing stories."

"Like what?" The soldier scoffed.

"Oh where do I begin?" She rolled her eyes. "How about the time you tried to be so suave saving that young lady from some bandits." She immediately turned to Manolo. "Get this, the idiot tries to clear a roof only to land in the pig farm on the other side. No, not just the pig farm, right in the manure pile." She barely got the last two words out as she bust into laughter. "That woman... she was so mad."

Manolo rolled over twice from laughing.

"How was I supposed to know it was down there?" Joaquín's cheeks went red.

"I made him take three baths." She smiled and took another sip of coffee.

"Sounds like an adventure, hermano." Manolo grinned. "Got anymore?"

"Oh I have plenty."

"Fine, tell them after I beat you at shooting." Joaquín grabbed his empty plate and headed for the sink.

"You wish." She stuck out her tongue.

"María please, we both know I could shoot better than you with one eye closed."

She blinked. "Wait, you're supposed to keep both eyes open?"

He laughed at that. "No wonder your shooting so so terrible."

"You never told me that." She stood up when she yelled.

"I thought that was common sense."

"Bull shit, you watched me shoot multiple times you could have said something."

Joaquín just gave her a sly smile as he turned away.

"You did it on purpose didn't you? We'll see who's so smug during that contest then. When I beat you..." She trailed off, not actually sure of what she'd do. "Well, you'll see."

Manolo covered his mouth, trying to stifle the echoing laughter during the whole ordeal.

After the kitchen was cleaned up and María finally got dressed for the day she demanded to know where he kept his pistols. Joaquín looked reluctant, but went to get them while she set up some bottles outside Plata's stable. Manolo followed her, and for a moment it seemed like he was trying to help.

She watched his form fade in and out as he tried to lift one of the bottles. Sometimes the glass would shake, but it never left the ground.

"You had no trouble grabbing my sheets earlier." Her eyes didn't leave him as she set up the first row.

"Throwing things is actually simple as a ghost. Moving objects carefully takes more energy." The bottle inched up before it fell back down.

"Manolo," she finished up one row. "Do you think you'd ever tell us about how you died?"

His grip on the bottle slipped but instead of going down it flew toward the left and smashed against the stable wall.

"I- oops," he moved to another bottle. "You guys really don't need to worry about it. It doesn't matter."

"You have to be trapped here for a reason." She frowned. "I just want to help you, if I can."

"I... I understand but I..." He flashed a few times before he curled up. "I want to spend some time with you."

María jumped when his glassy eyes turned black and yellow. The glowing orb darted around a few times before he blinked and it returned to normal.

"Yeah, okay," she decided to agree for now and returned to the bottles. "Jeez, he must be stalling if it's taking this long. Or sneaking in practice cause he'll know I win."

"Um, María?" His voice sounded more like a squeak.

"Yeah?"

"I didn't... I mean... when did you two get this close?"

His eyes turned black again but she pretended she didn't notice. "Well we did travel together for two years, I guess things change from that. But we're best friends anyway, of course."

She sighed and put up the last bottle. "I'm really sorry we didn't take you with us, that I didn't ask. You would have loved it."

She felt a chill for a moment but when she looked at the ghost he just floated there, smiling.

"Well, if you had told me I probably would have tried to make you stay, at least back then. With how young you were, honestly, I can't believe Joaquín agreed."

"You know him, he's a huge pushover."

"Oh, talking about me now are we?" The soldier showed up on cue, carrying two pistols.

"Only because you're taking so long." She spun around on her heel. "Sneaking in practice I take it."

"If you're as good as you claim then it shouldn't matter if I did." He put one of the guns in her hand. "And for the record no, I had to get more ammo. But now half the town wants to watch."

"What?" Her eyes widened. "But what about-" When she turned the ghost was gone. Her eyes darted around for a moment before the hair on her neck stood up.

"Still here," he whispered somewhere next to her.

"Okay, that's creepy." She frowned. "You better not use that to scare us later."

"Boo," he said before he broke into a fit of quiet giggles.

María shook her head and turned her attention to the pistol in her hand.

"Ladies first," Joaquín gestured and took an exaggerated step back.

She immediately pointed the gun at the first bottle but before she could get off a shot the towns people started to pour into the area. Children, soldiers, nuns, and even her father showed up, though he didn't look pleased this was going on.

Oh well, he'd be eating his doubt in a minute for sure. Even if she couldn't manage to best Joaquín and shooting that didn't mean she couldn't prove herself.

Keeping both eyes open made it much easier to aim. She mentally slapped herself for not thinking of it sooner before firing the pistol. The glass bottle shattered and she heard the crowd behind them cheer.

"Nice one," Manolo whispered.

"Your turn, señor superior." She smirked at him and flipped the pistol around in her fingers.

But Joaquín had that smug grin and returned to that ridiculous walk when he moved up to the line. Show-off.

María didn't expect his gun to go off three times, much less for him to hit all his intended targets either. The noise of the crowd got louder.

"Superior indeed." His head waved side to side for a moment as he glanced up.

"Oh it's on now." She lifted her pistol again.

_Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!_

She emptied her gun to shoot down every remaining bottle.

But Joaquín wasn't phased. He handed a few to the soldiers and instructed them to toss them into the air.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

A few people screamed from the raining glass and María smacked him in the arm for even thinking that was a good idea.

Still, he hit them all. How did she top that?

"Give up?" He hadn't gotten rid of that stupid grin the entire time.

"No way," she reloaded the pistol. "Throw some more."

They threw four this time, and she fired at each of them.

But the last one missed and a frustrated scream lodged in her throat as it crashed onto the ground.

The crowd burst into cheers for Joaquín who just shrugged under the praise. It took everything María had not to point the pistol at them to silence them.

"I still hit as many as you." She pointed at him.

"You just hate admitting when you've lost." He said. "But very well." He flipped the pistol in his hand before giving the soldiers a signal.

Another bottle flew into the air. Joaquín only glanced at it for a second before shutting his eyes and firing the gun.

The bottle exploded.

María's mouth fell open. She hadn't seen that trick before.

"I... I didn't even know he was this good." Manolo spoke into her ear.

"L-lucky shot." She turned away and crossed her arms.

"If it was you're welcome to try."

A part of her was tempted to, but in the end if she did she'd just make a bigger fool of herself.

"Fine, you win this time." She said before whipping her head back and pointing. "But this is not over."

She took a step back when the townspeople practically absorbed him into the crowd. While she was irritated at the display she didn't have the heart to take the moment away from him either.

"Is he this popular everywhere?" Manolo said.

"Pretty much," she spoke quietly. "I'm just as popular in some of the smaller towns though, the ones that actually awarded me a medal instead."

"He's really talented at that." The ghost sighed. "But I saw you swordfight, I think you're better at that."

"Well that's true enough." She put her hands on her hips. "Ever since he gave me that sword he just opened himself up."

"He gave you that sword?"

She felt the weapon shift on her back for a moment. "Yeah, for my seventeenth birthday." She pulled out the blade and stared at the inscription of "No Retreat". "He said he was going to make a matching one too, but I haven't seen it yet. Maybe I'll ask him about it later."

"As soon as that crowd goes away." Strange whispers were muttered for a moment. "I could scare them off if you want."

The thought was tempting but she shook her head.

"Or we could ditch."

She gave an amused hum as she put the sword away. "Oh I'm sure he'd love trying to find me around town."

"Wouldn't be much different from hide and seek."

"You mean apart from the fact you're invisible?" She took a step back before she turned to the left.

"Aw, you don't think the hero could do with a bit of a challenge?" He snickered.

"More like impossible. Even if there was some miraculous way he could find you can't you just teleport?"

"Not that far," he appeared for a moment as they slipped behind a house. "Where are we going?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"You should get me a guitar." He smiled before vanishing when they got to the main road. "Then maybe somewhere you can tell me Joaquín's embarrassing stories."

"A guitar?" She lowered her voice even though no one was around. "Where's yours?"

"Still at my house, but I doubt papá would let you in that easy. He wasn't happy last time."

She paused and glanced in the direction she thought he was. "You saw that?"

It became silent for so long she wondered if he vanished. She could still feel a cold sensation on the back of her neck as she kept moving down the road.

"I couldn't really leave the bullring until Joaquín showed up."

"What? But why?"

"I don't know." A gust of wind blew past her. "You were crying when you left the first time. I wanted to follow but I couldn't. I got mad."

She understood that, but as she ran that information in her head she realized something else.

"Wait, did you cause all that damage to the bullring that Joaquín mentioned."

"A-ah, well yes."

María frowned. "And your father hasn't noticed this?"

"He, ah, he might have."

"And he doesn't know it's you? Manolo that was probably driving him mad."

"It's fine now." His voice went deep. "It's fine, I'm not there anymore so it'll stop now."

"It's not fine, why won't you at least let him know you're here."

"He can't know."

Wind whipped past her and blew her braid over her shoulder. Goosebumps crawled up her arms.

Time to change the subject.

"I think Joaquín has an older guitar sitting somewhere in his music room if you want to check there."

"Oh, that sounds good. It'd be quiet in there too." She felt the air shift around her. "Hey, I'll race you."

"I can't see you, and I'd bet you're faster like that."

"Don't know till you try."

The sensation on her neck vanished which she guessed meant he took off.

She smiled and broke into a sprint. Few people were on the street so no one got in her way. The only things that did were a few boxes and a fence which she easily cleared in one leap.

The door to Joaquín's house was never locked, which she considered mentioning to him. There were plenty of objects in it someone would sell in a heartbeat if they could get away with it. Still she kicked open the door. Chuy, who was sleeping on a couch, jumped up at the noise. He seemed startled before he bounded over to her.

"Hey boy," she rubbed his head. "Is Manolo not here?"

The pig began to growl but before she could say anything she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Boo."

She couldn't stop herself from screaming as she jumped forward, tripping over Chuy. Manolo's glassy laughter filled the room and she spun around to see him floating upside down.

"That's going to become your new habit isn't it." She flattened out her skirt.

"Have to make this entertaining somehow." Manolo waved at her pet who just snorted and trotted back to her heel. "You'll think it's funny when I scare Joaquín again. He still makes the best faces."

She almost protested that but then thought about his smug grin when he beat her at shooting. "Know what? I'll help you. That's what he gets for beating me."

The pair of them giggled as they headed up the stairs. Chuy trotted close behind her.

When they made it to the music room she dug around in the back corner which was more of a storage by now. Items and boxes stacked up almost to the roof. Thankfully the guitar wasn't buried, just jammed near the back. It took her a few tugs to spring it free.

"Here we go." She turned back to him. "I don't know what condition it's in but it's better than nothing, right?"

Manolo glanced at the instrument and then his see through hands.

"Oh right," she darted over to the piano and leaned the guitar against it. "There, hopefully that'll stay." She plopped onto the piano bench, glancing at the keys.

"I didn't know Joaquín did music." Manolo said as he tried to pluck at the strings. She could hear a faint vibration from them, but nothing that resembled a note.

"I didn't either until we traveled. He knows a bunch of dances too, he has stunning hand writing, he writes his own stories too."

A string twanged as the guitarist looked up. "Why didn't he tell us any of that before?"

"I don't know," she crossed her arms and frowned. "For someone who likes gloating to townspeople he hates talking about himself. Getting him to be honest about his feelings at all was like pulling teeth."

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Manolo managed a few proper notes. "I don't know, somehow he seems-" One of the strings snapped. Manolo let out a strange wail before his form completely vanished.

María blinked before she burst into laughter. "Did that really scare you?"

"It surprised me." He said before reappearing, a familiar pout on his face.

She covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. He really hadn't changed a bit.

"I missed making you laugh." He suddenly spoke up.

She paused and felt her cheeks heat up under his half lidded gaze. Her hand moved from her mouth to brush some hair behind her ear. "Yeah I-"

"There you two are."

The pair turned to see Joaquín leaning against the door. Chuy trotted over and sniffed at his boots.

"Sorry for ditching," she said, even though she was sure her smile said otherwise. "Figured you should enjoy your moment of fame."

"I was just worried Manolo dragged you off into some spirit realm." He knelt down to pet the pig.

"Hey," Manolo said. "Even if I could do that I wouldn't."

"I know, I'm kidding," Joaquín stood back up. "So what are you doing?"

"Manolo wanted a guitar," she shrugged. "You should play piano with him, do a duet."

"I don't know any actual songs María."

"I can teach you a few." Manolo chimed. "And maybe María can finally learn to play something on her violin."

"Ugh, no," she stuck out her tongue. "I'm never touching that thing again. I don't even like the sound of it."

"Maybe if you played it better it wouldn't sound so terrible." Joaquín shook his mustache.

"Don't make me beat you at another pillow fight."

Manolo's laughter broke up the spat. "Really, come sit down. We were just about to tell stories about you."

Joaquín snorted and turned on his heel. "Definitely leaving."

"Oh get back here." María leapt up and ran to grab his arm. "All of us have some catching up to do. Besides I won't tell too many embarrassing stories." She tried to hide her smile by pressing her lips together.

"You," Joaquín poked her nose. "Are a liar."

"Fine, you got me, but I had to sit through mine so it's only fair."

"Please, Joaquín?" Manolo had his typical puppy eyes going. Somehow with him floating there it looked even more adorable than usual.

"All right, all right," the soldier sighed before stepping into the room. "But I'm telling Manolo what happened when you got drunk."

"Why tell him?" She followed Joaquín to the piano bench. "He can just see for himself when we go to a bar this evening."

"There is no way you-"

"Oh try and stop me." She plopped back down on the bench with her arms crossed.

"What happens when she gets drunk?" Manolo tilted this head.

Joaquín opened his mouth but María covered it with her hand. "Oh no, we're telling stories about you first." She cleared her throat. "How about we start with the time you had to save that cat from the roof?"

* * *

Joaquín had tried to stop María, he really had, but of course it was no use. She snickered to herself over and over again as she watched his expression with every glass of alcohol she drank. His features went from annoyed to flat out afraid.

"Don't be so worried." She nudged him, her vision already getting a bit hazy. "Like... maybe I'll fight someone but I'll be fine."

"It's not you I'm worried about, to be honest." He sighed. "Just, please, don't be reckless."

"Don't be a stick in the mud." She took another swig and giggled from the tingling in her shoulders.

"She might fight someone?" Manolo whispered between them.

"No, if she keeps drinking I know she will."

"He'll probably deserve it." María pointed.

"Whoa, didn't think I'd see you guys in here."

The pair spun around to see the Rodriguez brothers, all three of them grinning.

"I hope it's for a good reason." Pancho said.

"Yeah," Pepe said. "I mean, how are you guys doing."

For a moment María had no idea what they were referring to. She blinked a few times to clear the fog in her head.

"We're okay," Joaquín said. "Taking everything in one step at a time."

"I doubt the alcohol is going to help with that, bro." Pancho laughed.

"Her idea," the soldier pointed.

María just smiled at them.

"And if I were you," Joaquín took a sip of his own drink. "I'd stay clear."

"Oh come on I don't pick fights with everyone," she frowned.

"You do when your riled up. You threw me into a table remember?"

"You got in my way."

"My point stands then."

All three of them burst into snickers.

"Hey," Pablo spoke up. "If _you two_ want to join us we'll probably be performing in a bar down the street later on. Joaquín mentioned you might like to dance."

"Did he now?" She smiled. "Yeah, we might do that."

"We'll see you later then." Pepe smiled as they headed out.

"If you get there we'll be sure to play something roman- ow!" Pablo said until Pancho smacked him in the head.

María just let off a light giggle as she finished off her third glass. "You told them we'd go dancing?"

"I thought it might cheer you up." Joaquín muttered as he turned back to the bar.

"Aw how sweet," she leaned against him. "My hero."

Joaquín shifted under her and his shoulders went tense. "María, please don't-"

"Hey, Joaquín."

María sat up at the voice to see the four soldiers from her father's brigade enter the bar. Her mood dropped from bubbly to stone cold and she signaled the bartender to refill her glass. She already knew she was going to need it.

"Hey guys," Joaquín turned. "Is something going on?"

"Not at all," all four of them crowded around his stool, effectively cutting María out. "Just seemed to be a shame you ditched the crowd this morning."

"Well I can't show off all the time," he smiled.

"You know we told Posada," another one spoke up. "Even if his daughter did learn to fight you'd still be the better hero."

María took a long sip. "I am sitting right behind you, you know."

The soldiers were slow to turn around, as if it was a chore.

"And I told you," she finished off the fourth glass and put it down. "You're welcome to fight me."

"Please don't," Joaquín muttered.

"As if we would," one of them said. "We'd get in trouble for hurting the general's daughter."

She glared but blinked when Joaquín burst into laughter. The whole group stared at him as he grabbed his glass and stood, trying to catch his breath.

"What?" He took a sip and headed for a corner table. "You guys assume you can?"

They gave each other confused glances as María hopped off the bar stool. Her feet were unsteady for a moment since the alcohol was making the room spin, but she didn't even need to be sober for this. It'd be easier than fighting those five bandits on a slanted roof.

"Come on," she cracked her knuckles. "I'll fight all of you at once."

"Now now, young lady." Another man came up from behind and put a hand on her shoulder. "I think you need to-"

Her elbow went straight into the man's ribs before it flew up and smacked the bottom of his jaw. One of the soldier's tried to grab her arm, possibly to stop her, but it didn't last. Her knee flew into his stomach. She grabbed his wrist and jerked forward, sending him to the floor on top of the other guy.

"Hey now," the bartender shouted. "Take this outside."

But he was ignored. The other three soldiers lunged at her at once. She grinned, putting a hand behind her to find the closet stool. She took no time to flip over it, kicking one soldier in the chin along the way. When she landed on the other side her foot shot out. The stool flew into the second soldier, making the third one pause.

"Will someone stop her?" Someone in the bar shouted. A few more men got up from their tables and tried to surround her. The soldier with the now bleeding chin managed to join them.

"Oh no, six against one." The alcohol made her stumble back. "What's a girl to do?"

The fools dove at her all at once. She simply crouched on the ground and let their faces smash together. Without missing a beat she balanced on her hands and swung a leg around. At least five of them lost their footing and wound up on their asses.

María laughed as she got back on her feet. The one remaining soldier managed to grab her wrist only to hit the ground a second later from a knee to the crotch.

"Aw, don't give up yet." She said to the men scrambling to their feet. "Who's next?"

Her vision got hazier for a while, not that it made fighting any harder. Their attacks were too easy to dodge, or even if she did get hit they were taking it easy on her. If they took it all seriously maybe they'd win.

But they were persistent bastards. When knocking them down did nothing she started throwing them over tables and the bar. Glasses got knocked on the floor and shattered. A woman screamed from the mess. María even broke a chair when she hurled it at one guy. Thankfully he managed to duck out of the way and it crashed into the wall.

She just laughed during it all. It was easily a game. She'd aim for their ribs, their knees, toss them over her head like twigs, it was too easy.

"María," Joaquín called from his safe corner.

She spun around and squinted to see him holding one guy by the collar of his shirt.

"You missed one." He shoved the guy back into the fray.

The man just screeched and ran out the door instead.

When the room stopped spinning the glanced around it to see most everyone laying on the ground, groaning. A few of them were bleeding and at least one table was broken in half.

"Whoa," she grinned. "This is even better than the last round." She spun around for a moment, but paused when she heard the door open again.

There stood her father, mouth agape as he glanced around the room.

"What happened?" He said.

"It was me." She raised her hand. "I beat them all up, just when you said I couldn't, so hah!"

"María!" He snapped. "Look at this mess. Look at what you did."

She only glanced at it for a moment before she crossed her arms. "So what? I've seen the guys cause stuff like this all the time and they aren't in trouble for it."

"That's not the point."

"It is the point." She raised her voice. Her vision went fuzzy for a moment and she swayed to the side.

"Go home, mija." Posada pointed. "We can sort this out in the morning."

She pointed and opened her mouth but froze when a hand rested on her shoulder.

"I'll take her home, general." Joaquín said.

María shot him a dirty look but didn't protest as she nudged him out the door. She just knocked his hand away stumbled out onto the street.

"Are you okay?" Manolo whispered in her ear. "That was some impressive fighting but..."

"Fine," she spat out before she almost ran into a lamp post. She stumbled backward into Joaquín who gripped her shoulders.

"You really should be more careful." He said.

"Oh don't start sounding like my dad." María growled before tearing out of his grip again. "Is that where you got that nagging personality trait from? 'Be careful, be careful' and why should I? I guarantee other people have wrecked up bars around here before."

"María-"

"Stop saying my name like that." She shot him a glare. "At least none of them will underestimate me now right? You agree don't you Manolo?"

The only sound she heard was their footsteps on the stone street. In fact the usual buzzing on the back of her neck was gone.

"Well he would agree if he was around." She turned her nose up into the air. "Besides if you thought it was a bad idea you could have said something."

"Like you ever listen to me." He lowered his tone.

"I do too, when you're right at least. But, well, we know how often that is."

He kept his gaze to the side. "No, you don't. And you should be more careful with your words too."

She shrugged and fell back a step, elbowing him in the ribs. "Maybe, but you love me anyways."

Joaquín stopped walking. She almost fell over when she spun around to face him.

She tried to meet his gaze, study his expression, but everything kept moving around. She glanced at the empty road and the blurry street lamps.

Joaquín returned to his pace and she stumbled when he walked past.

"Hey wait," irritation burned under her skin. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"What you're just not going to say anything?" She stomped after him. "You said it once before."

"You mean when I was as drunk as you are right now?" He spun around on his heel.

"What does being drunk have to do with it? If anything you're more honest."

"I'm more honest and you're even more reckless than usual."

She blinked at the angry tone of his voice. "Hang on, are you pissed at me for what happened then?"

He clenched his jaw and straightened up. "I was drunk, you were drunk, like you said we should just forget it ever happened."

"What? Sleeping together? Or the fact you said 'I love you' in the first place."

"Nevermind," he muttered and started to turn.

"Oh no you don't," she jerked him back around. "Maybe I did say forget it but you obviously haven't. It's not like it was a big deal Joaquín, why are you getting so pissed about nothing?"

"It's not nothing," he spoke through clenched teeth.

She studied him up and down, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't. "Why?"

Joaquín opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking up. "You know, it's not proper for a lady to-"

"Do not go there. Who gives a shit if it's proper? I know for a fact you don't or you wouldn't have let me stay out in the desert with you for two years. You wouldn't have taught me how to fight."

"This is different."

"As if," she jabbed him in the chest. "What's the real reason huh? Why are you so pissed off that it happened? Was it just bad?"

She saw his cheeks go red but he wouldn't look at her.

"Is it Manolo?" She lowered her voice.

His eyes widened at that.

"It is, isn't it. Are you kidding me?" She stomped closer to him. "That's why you were freaking out? That's why you're so pissed about it? Because of Manolo? Manolo's dead!"

"And if he wasn't?" The soldier raised his voice. "You love him María, I know you do. You can't just throw that aside."

"You don't know anything." She screamed back. "You don't know how I feel, you have no idea. Why won't you just believe that I love you?"

"You don't know what you're saying."

"Yes I do." She grabbed her hair. "I might be drunk but I'm not delusional."

"You and I both know if Manolo was still alive you'd be with him."

"No you don't." A lump formed in her throat but she screamed past it. "You don't know that. What do I have to do huh?"

Joaquín pressed his eyebrows together and looked down. "Enough María, let's get you home."

No. No way was he squeezing out of this one. Not this time.

She stepped even closer to make him look at her. "Do you not want me to love you? Is that it?"

"María-"

"Just how much do you hate yourself Joaquín?" She shouted. "Why can't you just get over that already?"

She didn't expect the shocked expression on his face. Even less did she expect it to shift to rage a moment later. Those once bright and gentle eyes suddenly cut into her and she stumbled back. The alcohol seemed to flee her system.

And realization hit her like a bullet.

But he didn't say anything. He didn't do anything apart from turn around and stalk down the street. She tried to shout, to run, but in the end she just stood there and watched him disappear between buildings.

María's knees hit the ground. She kept her arms wrapped around herself as she felt colder and colder. Her body shook but she wasn't sure if it was from chills or the tears spilling from her eyes.

"M-María?" Manolo suddenly came into view. "Wh-what happened?"

"I... I'm terrible." She muttered.

"What? No. Wh-who said that? Was it Joaquín? If it was then I swear I..." His eyes went black again and his skin turned white.

"No," she shook her head and covered her eyes with one hand. "It's not his fault, it's mine. It's all my fault."

"I... I don't understand."

"He's always telling me to be careful, but I only just realized he meant more than just fighting. I've done so many selfish things, not just to him but you as well." She almost managed a laugh. "Honestly, it's amazing either of you put up with me this long." Her quiet tears suddenly broke into sobs. She tried to keep it under control but couldn't seem to catch her breath.

"H-hey, it's okay." Manolo whispered. "I... I'm sure you can apologize in the morning, right? He's never been the type to hold a grudge."

Maybe not, but she wouldn't blame him if he did this time. She hadn't been thinking about his feelings at all, the entire time. It was nothing but a selfish ploy, especially telling him to forget about it when he went into a panic the next morning. At the time she thought it would keep him from stressing out, but really it was the same as telling him to shove his feelings back into a tin box. The box she had been trying to convince him to open since they started traveling.

And now she feared he'd never open it again.

"María?"

She took a deep breath before pushing herself up. The alcohol finally returned, making her dizzy, but she kept her footing.

"I... I'm going home... I guess." She hated thinking of that building as her home. "Um, can you do me a favor and keep an eye on Joaquín? I don't want him doing something dumb and I don't... if he looks like he's going to leave don't let him."

"Yeah, okay, I'll see you tomorrow." With that he vanished into the air.

It took María a moment to find her balance but after that she staggered home. Even with Manolo gone she felt colder than ever.

She hated being alone.


End file.
